Stark differences
by StumpyTPDimples
Summary: Tony likes to tease. And the groups archer is always his favourite target. But, one day, frustration makes him cross a line. How will the billionaire manage to make things right? (HAWK-GUY SERIES PART 5, WRITTEN BEFORE 4 BECAUSE REASONS)
1. Chapter 1

NEW STORY MAN!

So, I was studying for 'Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Behaviour Analysis', right? And I thought, "Fuck this, why the hell did I choose Engineering!? Why don't I go join a circus! But man, that would probably be difficult as fuck too.."

And this idea popped into my head..

For those who requested, and there were a few man, I will get to your stories after my exams! Just need something to ramble on with so I don't go insane studying about why water flows over weirs the way it does!

Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER; DON'T OWN ANYTHING OF MARVEL'S! JUST PLAYING WITH THEIR CHARACTERS INSTEAD OF STUDYING LIKE THE GOOD LITTLE PROCRASTINATING MARVEL FAN GIRL I AM!

* * *

"I'm telling ya, man. If you put the motor there instead, it would make enough room for the Noz then the thing would work!"

"Oh, and what would you know?"

"I know more than you think I do!"

"That's right, you might also know how to make balloon animals, I don't know!"

 _Harsh._

Tony was never quiet about how much enjoyment he got out of the fact Clint used to be in the circus. It amounted to alot of teasing, alot of jokes, and alot of Natasha having to hit Tony across the head for upsetting her boyfriend.

Today, was no different.

The archer had wandered into the billionaires lab to let him know himself and Natasha were going to get dinner if he wanted to put an order in. He found Tony blinding and cursing under the hood of one of his race cars and was automatically curious, so he went over and took a peek to see him struggling to find a place for a Noz cylinder he wanted to install, most parts of the car taken out to find space.

"You watch your mouth, Stark." Clint growled, standing up straight from his hunched position over the engine to glare at the man next to him. "One more snappy comment like that and you won't be walking for a week."

"Yeah, right." Stark laughed, standing up and going over to wipe his hands on a cloth. "What, gonna get Romanoff to do your dirty work again?"

"Where do you think she learned most of her tricks?" Clint countered, his glare shooting dangerous daggers now.

He was used to people putting him down, used to this attitude of 'All he does is shoot arrows, nothing special. Next candidate please.' people seem to have about him.

It seemed to be especially prevalent with the billionaire since Clint's been on the sidelines. A building collapsing on him kind of fucked his body up for the past few months. His leg was only healed enough in the past two weeks for him to ditch the crutches. So, they had to be without a sharpshooter for a while. He offered Kate's services, but she seemed to rather stay back when Avengers went on missions to look after Clint. Nat's idea, no doubt.

Tony had been specially horrible to him the past month or so. The mission Tony came home with a bullet in his arm from a straggler apparently that would usually be Clint's job to take out. Ill feelings existed towards the archer from the billionaire, and nothing he did or said would make them go away.

"Didn't know she knew clown tricks. Juggling or fire breathing?" Tony responded with an 'impressed' face, throwing his towel at Clint then before going back to the car. "Just get out of here, carny. This is a mechanics job. An engineers job. Y'know, an actual hard working qualification?"

"And what, my skills weren't gotten through hard work?" Clint pretty much yelled, losing his cool at that insinuation.

Stark smirked to himself and shrugged, loving how worked up the archer was getting.

It's true; he wasn't happy at all with how much the team was suffering without Clint there. Not on Clint's part, he can't help it. But it's because it appears that he's the one they need the most, the guy with no powers or suit, the guy who fires arrows every now-and-again being missing made every mission a little more difficult to handle and Tony hated that. If anything, he always thought he'd be the one to be missed most.

"You said it, not me!" Stark laughed, finally fitting the motor in the place he wanted, not where Hawkeye wanted. He stood up properly and looked to Clint, his killer eyes were on him.

For some reason, Tony felt happy about this. Since the building collapse, since that heart stopping moment they all thought they lost the archer, Clint had been pretty out of it. Pain pills did alot of that, sure, but once he heard that he'd be sidelined for months on end, it just seemed to Tony that the kid lost all his fight.

Seeing the fire back in his eyes, even if directed at Stark, gave the billionaire a grin.

"Guys, we can hear you two from upstairs." Both Clint and Tony looked to the door of the lab to see Natasha standing there, Steve standing just behind her, both looking pretty confused at the shouting. "Relax."

"He started it, Tash." Clint growled, pointing an accusing finger at Tony.

"Go for a walk, Clint." Steve said, knowing that getting worked up wasn't the answer. They were all just a little frustrated with eachother, Clint more so than anyone. "Calm down. We'll go training later."

"He needs to learn his place." Clint said with a shake of his head, causing Tony to roll his eyes and turn his back to the man he was fighting with.

"Jesus, you're annoying Barton. No wonder your wife left you."

Everyone froze at Tony's comment, even the man himself.

 _Well, shit.. Nice life you had, Stark! Good way to go!_

That was still an iffy subject. Even if Barton was in a new relationship, bringing up the wife and divorce was a big no no.

But, Tony wasn't thinking. And the words just tumbled out because it was the only thing he knew would hurt the guy, and in a fight, isn't that the whole point?

But, he knew he just flew over a line and couldn't even see it anymore. So, he turned back around to the archer.

"Man, I'm sorry, that jus-"

He couldn't finish the apology, there was a hand around his throat pinning him to the wall before he could.

"Clint!" Natasha yelled, but Barton wasn't paying attention. He was too busy glaring at the man he held in his hand.

"Care to repeat that? Hmm? Hearing's not quite what it used to be." He growled. Tony's eyes went a little wide, he really did cross a line. He never heard the guy this mad before.

"Clint, I didn't mean it, rea-"

"Oh, but you did!" Clint laughed, increasing the pressure on the man's throat to shut him up. "Go on, say it. I'm nothing but a carny freak, a trickshot, a failure as an Avenger and as a husband. Go on, I know you think that!"

There was going to be no reasoning his way out of this situation, so, instead, Tony resorted to his favourite tactic; attack.

He held a hand out and, before Barton could react, the hand section of his armour was on. Barton had a pretty strong hold on his throat, so he had to get him off or he was going to black out. The grip around his throat was loosening though as Clint realised what was about to happen, but he was a little too slow.

Near point blank range was gonna hurt like a bitch! But Tony took aim at the archers chest and fired anyway, sending Clint backwards towards the glass wall, smashing right through it.

Neither seemed fazed, both men too caught up in adrenaline, so while Tony was still coughing and spluttering, and Clint had a nice giant fresh burn on his chest and glass embedded in his skull, both jumped to their feet and went for eachother again.

"Enough!" Steve yelled, running over to hold back Tony, his arms hooked around Steve's to stop him moving. Natasha was doing the same to Clint, but both men just continued to glare at eachother.

"You really think my life is so easy, Stark!?" Clint yelled, trying to get out of Natasha's grip.

The smirk Tony sent him just made him all the angrier. That ass really did think Clint just had a simple life.

"You wouldn't have lasted a week in the circus!" Clint growled, shrugging Natasha off finally.

"Oh, and you'd so last an hour in an Engineering course!"

"Oh, poor me, growing up loved and cared for and actually getting the chance to go to college!" Clint mocked in a sarcastic tone, his hand going to the back of his head where he was sure he was bleeding.

"Hey, you got to fuck off and raise a family, sounds like a nice normal life! Not my fault you fucked that up like everything else." Tony replied with a shrug, holding his hands up in a 'just saying' kind of way when Steve gave him a warning 'Tony.'.

"No, Steve, it's fine." Clint growled, turning then to leave. "Have my fucking life if you think it's so easy, see if I give a shit. Don't say I didn't warn you!"

"Clint." Natasha called after the archer, chasing him up the stairs when he ran off.

Tony just loosened out the muscles in his back before taking off the glove of armour, not fazed by the encounter at all which had Steve gob-smacked.

"He needed to be told those things. Walking around the place like he's better than all of us." Tony sighed, bringing his armour back to the rest of the pile.

"You and I both know none of that was the truth." Steve said with a frown, trying to figure out in his mind where the hell Tony was getting all of this from.

"Wasn't it, though?" Tony replied with an eyebrow raised, grabbing a bottle of water he had on the desk to take a gulp. "Think about it, Cap. All he did was run to a circus when he was younger, and we have to treat him like some sort of hero?"

"All I did was submit myself to a science experiment. All Thor did was be born. All Banner did was get in an accident. All you did was build a suit." Steve replied with an eyebrow raised, failing entirely to see Tony's point here. "He's the only one of us who chose to be a hero."

"Doesn't give him the right to come in and act like he knows everything." Tony shrugged, not feeling bad about anything except the wife comment. The kid shouldn't have tried one up him on a mechanical issue.

Steve sighed and went over to a filing cabinet in the corner of the lab, pulling out Barton's file before flipping through it. "You don't know much about him, do you?"

Tony was about to ask what he meant but the file was placed infront of him on one of the benches and a finger was pointing to some tests scores on the page.

"Top marks across the board. Psychological, physical, tactical, general theory, language, and yes, mechanical and engineering skills aswell. SHIELD need people who know how to fix gear in the field. Kid knows what he's talking about."

For once, Tony was lost for words. Looks like Barton knows more than he ever let on, and now Stark was made out to be a fool infront of his team.

"He knows everything. But never acts like it. Maybe you should learn to do the same."

Steve spoke as he walked towards the door, he didn't care about Tony right now. He had a much more injured team mate upstairs somewhere, both mentally and physically.

"I should apologise, huh?" Steve heard being said quietly, and he looked over his shoulder to see Stark looking at the file with a frown.

He simply shook his head and started up the stairs.

"You've already done enough. Just leave him alone."

* * *

"How's he doing?"

"Won't open the door."

He could hear the exchange between Steve and Natasha through the bathroom door, but he didn't care right now. He knew they meant well, but he wanted to be alone.

He had his shirt off and was trying his best to clean the nice burn his team mate had just given him, difficult with his hands shaking so much.

 _Just a bad day, Barton.._

 _That's all.._

 _He didn't mean any of it.._

He sighed to himself and supported himself by holding either side of the sink, watching the face staring back at him in the mirror. If Tony thought his life was easy in the circus, he was dead wrong.. The scars criss-crossing his body, the grooves in his fingers from hours of torturous training, the nightmares that haunt him each night and flashbacks each day, they'd all tell the billionaire just how horrifying his time in that place was, and how each little reminder the guy brought up killed his soul a little.

 _Just a bad day.._

 _Just a bad year.._

"I had a talk with him." Steve said behind the door, as Clint sunk down to sit against the sink, his bad leg instinctively pulled up close to his chest.

"Wouldn't have been talking I'd have done.." He had to laugh softly at Natasha's reply. He loved how protective of him she was. Especially with the whole divorce thing.

Each member of the team had been threatened with castration from the Widow if anyone brought it up. Clint didn't know about this until about a month ago when Steve let it slip that that's why no one asked anymore.

"It's why I'm glad you followed Barton. I didn't want to have to hide a body." Steve laughed back, and another knock came after.

"Come on, soldier. Let us patch you up then you can lock yourself away again."

Damn, he hated how they all knew now that a commanding voice got him to do pretty much anything..

That little cat left the bag when Pepper was trying to get him to clean the living room. Still on his crutches, and in a sling, so she was joking as she moved around cleaning up after them all. But the words "Clinton Barton you clean this mess yourself." were said in such a commander sort of way that, while the others were laughing at her joke scolding, he just simply jumped up from his half-dead, pain killer induced state, and cleaned the whole room and half the kitchen before Natasha came in and ordered him to rest.

 _Pre-conditioning was a horrible method of torture.._

Now they used it as a joke, he sometimes found it funny alright, other times he found it pretty shitty that they were using part of his PTSD to make him do things.

 _It's fine.. He uses Tony's as a joke all the time._

'A guy flew into a space worm hole' had recently become one of his favourite jokes.

This time it definitely was fine though, because they were worried about him so they had to order him around.

He reached up from his spot on the floor and unlocked the door, Steve opening it a moment later. Both he and Natasha frowned at the sight, Steve coming in to help the archer off the floor and back to his room while Natasha went to get a first aid kit from her room.

"Next time; don't hold him against a wall." Steve said with an amused smile as he eased Clint onto the edge of the bed, and Clint gave him a slight smile in return.

"Next time; it's an arrow to the balls." He laughed in reply, and Steve nodded with a face that screamed 'That'd work alright!'.

Steve never seemed to scold him. The guy just understood people, understood why these things happen, and never questioned people unless they're in the wrong. That's how Clint knew he was never in the wrong.

 _Now, dealing with Natasha, on the other hand.._

"Easy!" Clint hissed when Natasha smacked the back of his head, going to kneel behind him then to see if there was actually any glass stuck back there.

"No more picking fights, you idiot. You're injured enough." She growled, and he had to nod.

"Yes ma'am.." He replied quietly, sending Steve a 'Say something, I DARE you to.' look when the captain laughed.

They let Clint get lost in his own little world as they worked, Steve cleaning the burn up and Natasha picking the glass from his mess of hair.

They knew how all that stuff Stark said got to him. Everyone did, including Tony, which is why he did it.

This wasn't just a little squabble, this was a guy purposely trying to hurt Clint every way he knew how.

"Pepper and I can go get the dinner." Steve said when he was finished, snapping Clint from his thoughts. His chest was now nice, clean, and wrapped. The man was a wizard, no pain or anything. He learned some good skills in WW2. No pain relief in the field back then, so they had to be gentle or lose men to the shock of pain. "You two relax here."

"Thanks Steve." Natasha replied, Clint could tell she was smiling.

The Captain left with a nod, closing the door behind him softly.

Clint sighed a little and ran a hand over his face, smiling a little when Natasha started to gently massage his shoulders.

"Don't listen to him, ok?" She whispered in his ear, her hands managing to relax his shoulders from all the knots that had built up there over the past hour. "He never knows what he's talking about."

 _True.._

Tony grew up sheltered, got things handed to him. He was put through the finest education, given a multi-billion dollar company to run. Became Iron Man and was now an Avenger.

Clint grew up battered, got handed things alright. He was put through horrible children homes, given the chance at being a circus star. Became a master archer and was now an Avenger.

Stark may tease all he likes, but he was no more a hero than Clint was.

He turned his head to smile at Natasha, giving her a soft kiss as a thanks. They never needed words for that, sometimes not even actions, just a look would work for letting each other know how grateful they were.

He fell back onto the bed and sighed softly, pulling Natasha close just to relax for a while, her hand gently resting on his chest as he closed his eyes.

Yes, there were stark differences between their upbringings, but they were in the exact same place now.

 _Your past doesn't define you._

 _Your present, your here and right now, that's what defines you. Just keep thinking about that._

Right now, he was an Avenger, a hero, and that's all that matters.

* * *

 _A/N Yes, Tony is a little mean.. But I like asshole Tony, he's fun to write! And he just had a bit of a meltdown, I can relate when something doesn't work, and yeah, hope you enjoyed! Next chap. soon I guess!_


	2. Chapter 2

Well, thanks folks! Didn't realise this silly little idea would get this much attention! Thank you all for the follows and favourites!

Lot's of Clint in this chapter. Tony next.

Yes, this is a multi chapter, because I have a little story in mind and you know me; if it doesn't come out then I'll be dreaming about it for weeks!

Reviewers!

 _Snow Brightness_ ; Thank you my dear! Glad you liked it!

 _Niom Lamboise_ ; Good to hear you enjoyed it, pal! :)

 _ELOSHAZZY_ ; Creative name, I like it! You understand me, man! You understand me! Not quite putting his foot in it. Watching and reading Iron Man for years has thought me that he always tries fix what he did wrong first then does something wrong again! I hope you enjoy :)

Disclaimer; Just.. Just read the last chapter one, man. It upsets me to write that I don't own anything to do with Marvel each and every time I update!

* * *

"Don't look at me like that!"

"You said.."

"I know."

"And that.."

"I was there."

"How could you be such an ass!?"

Tony sighed and rubbed his forehead a little, he should NOT be standing awkwardly in his own bedroom door! But, here he was, standing there while his girlfriend scolded him like a five year old.

"Look, I wasn't thinking.." He tried defend himself, offering Pepper an apologetic smile. She was having none of it though. She always did have a soft spot for Barton. Always. He often got a smack across the head for insinuating there was something going on between them, she just always said Coulson spoke highly of the archer and she wanted to make sure he had someone. "They just spilled from my mouth."

"And a shot from your hand." Pepper snapped with a frown, her arms folded across her chest now. That meant business.

"Ok.." Tony sighed, nodding a little before pointing a thumb to himself. "That's on me, I need to apologise for that. But he was choking me!"

"Because you attacked him!" Pepper yelled, arms thrown up in a fed up manner before she turned to go get changed out of her business clothes. "The man's barely healed and you nearly blew a hole through his chest!"

"Look, I fucked up, I get that!" Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair to try stay calm. Blowing up at Pepper would only end up with a worse situation. "Cap won't let me near the guy to apologise so I don't know what else to do!"

"You just have to make this right, Tony." Pepper sighed, shaking her head a little as she turned to look at Stark. "I don't know how, but you crossed so many lines and I don't think any one of us would have blamed him if he killed you then and there."

"Gee, thanks." Tony scoffed, plonking down on the end of the bed. "Just once could you take my side? Just once."

"Oh don't do that." Pepper replied with a humourless laugh, busy slipping into some pyjamas now. "You were in the wrong here, pal. No one's taking your side."

"Nothing new there." Tony sighed roughly, falling back so he was lying on the bed. He could feel Pepper by his feet a moment later but didn't look at her. "Always poor Barton, Clint has it so hard, ah leave him alone he's fine, no no just do what he says about your car Tony he knows this stuff, give him a confidence boost! Last I checked, the guy was fine."

"Oh don't be jealous." Pepper sighed, nudging his legs a little which was her way of saying 'move over so I can get into bed'.

"More fed up than jealous." Tony said with a shake of his head, leaning up on one elbow to look to his girlfriend as she settled against the headboard to read a little. "Tell me you're not sick of it and I'll drop the subject."

"I don't even know what you're sick of." Pepper shrugged, not looking to him though. He pouted a little. "Jealous of him getting some attention? Your attention? Tony, that's no excuse for what you did."

He sighed for what felt like the millionth time since the conversation had begun, falling back down onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. Did he even know what he was sick of?

Yeah, the little carny running around the place and everyone acting like he's made of glass. He's one of the toughest ones of the lot of them, actually he IS the toughest of the lot of them, so they shouldn't be treating him the way they are.

 _Let the guy heal and get over all this shit! No point babying him forever!_

He rolled his head to look at Pepper when her hand lazily played with his hair, he could see her smiling slightly behind her book but he didn't know if it was towards him or whatever she was reading.

"Just make things right, Tony.." She whispered, her hand leaving his hair then. "His file doesn't hold everything. He didn't have the nice easy life you think. And there's only so many times I can stop Nat from killing you."

"You know something I don't?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. She nodded in confirmation. "Not gonna tell me?"

"Not my information to give." She shrugged, leaving it at that.

He sighed softly and nodded, closing his eyes for a moment to think things through. Maybe running to the circus kind of should have indicated that the guy had some crap going on.. But still, Tony stands by his words!

 _Make things right.._

 _How do I do that..?_

He opened his eyes with a slight grin, a plan forming in his head.

 _How Hawkeye thought to make things right, that's how!_

He sat upright and gave Pepper a quick kiss before jumping off the bed and packing up a duffel bag. He could feel her eyes on him as he threw clothes into the bag, but he didn't look at her.

"Should I ask?" She said with a slightly curious tone, and he just shrugged. She was WAY too used to his crazy plans to care anymore!

"Making things right!" He grinned, waving his phone at her to let her know he had it before running from the room and to his garage.

He had to make things right, had to feel the way Clint does right now to understand.

He had a circus to join!

* * *

He couldn't feel the weight on his chest that would usually be there when the waking world approached him. It made him frown a little and stretch himself out, giving a little sad sound at the pop of all his sore muscles and bones.

Relaxing hurt more than training recently!

He opened his eyes and glanced around the room for a moment, arms outstretched on the bed since he had that space.

After the incident with Tony yesterday, Natasha must have let him sleep in. Usually he'd be woken at 6am when she was going training with a smack on the forehead and a 'Get your lazy ass up Hawkeye! Do your exercises before I kill you!'.

She meant well, he knew that. The exercises he had to do were helping him get stronger each day. Last week, he was finally able to pull his bow string again. Dislocated shoulders made that little task pretty difficult!

But she wasn't here now, and the light in the room gave him the indication it was a little after 10am.

 _Gotta love lie ins, man!_

Though his rumbling stomach was telling him to get his ass out of bed just like Natasha would, and he listened to it alot easier than he did her! So, he got up, changed into some sort of decent clothes that weren't just his boxers, and left the room to head to the kitchen.

"Morning sleepy head." Natasha greeted with a smile when he entered the kitchen, instantly going over to give her cheek a soft kiss before heading to make himself some coffee.

"Thanks for letting me sleep in. Really didn't miss the head slap!" He grinned, sitting up on one of the counters to eat a yoghurt he grabbed. She was reading the paper at the table, still in her training clothes. She was always too lazy after her morning training to change until absolutely necessary.

"Looked like you needed it." She replied with a soft smile, which was Natasha nice talk for 'You looked like shit and needed to rest it off so I let you this one time you big idiot!'. He liked her nice version more. Didn't crush his soul a little!

"Fury has a mission, y'know." She said after a moment of silence, while he threw his empty carton into the trash can at the opposite side of the wall.

Target practice can happen any time, people! Take every chance!

"I ain't ready yet." He shrugged, taking a sip from his coffee. "His words, not mine. I'd love to take a mission Tash."

"Gotta start back at the basics, Clint." She smiled, putting the newspaper down to look at him. "I know you don't want to take the crappy missions, but I think he just wants to ease you back up to Avenger level."

"I can draw my bow, that's all I need." He pouted, grabbing the pot of coffee when she stood with her cup. She went over and leaned against the counter beside him as he filled her mug up.

"Yeah, but your stamina is non existent right now." She said softly, and he couldn't argue with that.

He glanced at the clock on the wall and shrugged, putting the coffee back on the hot plate before sipping his own. "Fourteen minutes Cap and Falcon will ask me on a run. If I go with them, and keep up, can you tell Fury I'm fine?"

"If you go with them, and aren't dead when you come back, I'll think about it." She smiled, patting his cheek gently.

"That's all I ask!" He grinned, giving her a quick kiss before she had the chance to go back to her seat.

"How are you two the worlds most deadly assassin?" He heard a chuckling voice say, and he looked over to the entrance to see Pepper coming in. "Way too cute to be."

"Only to make you guys comfortable." Natasha replied with a slight smirk, reading the paper again at the table. "That way it'll be more of a shock when we kill Tony."

"Don't think that'll shock anyone." Pepper laughed, patting Clint's arm gently as she passed, a little way he knew was her saying she knew about last night.

He gave the woman a shy smile and hopped down from the counter. "Excuse me, ladies.. I'm just gonna, um.."

He couldn't think of an excuse really. But if Pepper was here that meant Tony was about to drag his ass out of bed and he didn't want to have an awkward moment this early. Classic Barton style never involved apologies. Never involved giving one or accepting one. It involved having a fight or argument, avoiding the person for about three days, then acting like nothing happened.

Pepper cut him off though, obviously seeing right through his idea.

"Relax Clint." She smiled, heading over to the table to sit with Natasha and a bowl of cereal. "He went out somewhere last night and hasn't come back. Don't need to tip-toe around the place."

"If he's under a table of that damn Irish pub again.." Natasha sighed, shooting Clint a smile when he laughed at the memory of the last time they had to drag Stark's ass out of that place. He was just leaning against the wall by the door, incase he did want to make a quick escape.

"Don't think so." Pepper laughed, shaking her head at the idea. "He took a bag with him so I'm guessing he's gone on one of his adventures."

"Both always end with us having to save his ass." Clint said with an amused smirk. Natasha nodded in agreement, though the look she shot him to begin with made him think she was about to disagree.

"What do you say, Clint?" He looked to his right, to see Steve standing in the doorway with a smile. Clint just knew that his usual morning question was playing on his lips, and today he unfortunately had to say yes. "Up for a run before training?"

He glanced at Natasha who was watching him now with a curious face, he'd bet everything on the fact she was expecting him to say another time.

He smirked and winked at her, and she just laughed and looked away.

 _Game on, Romanoff._

"Sure!" He grinned, moving away from the wall to pat a pretty surprised Captain on the shoulder. "About time I got into some proper training again!"

 _About time I got into some proper missions, more like.._

Tony problems could wait, he had his own problems to deal with right now!

* * *

 _Natasha might be right.._

 _Might be.._

 _Like, don't tell her that! Good lord don't tell her that! But, she might be right.._

An hour they've been running. They started at the tower and had made their way down to Central Park. He was running with a super-soldier and an ex-soldier. For the first time since he's been out of a giant cage around his leg, might he add!

Ok, he's actually doing better than he's letting on!

He's been keeping up with them, most times, even though he knew that Cap was setting a slow pace so he wouldn't over-exert himself!

The odd time he'd fall behind, lose his footing and need to slow down or something like that. But he had Captain America and Falcon as trainers, so they worked around it! Each time he fell behind, they'd fall behind, and slowly build him up to a proper speed again.

He swears, they had this all planned out. Too well executed to be a plan they just thought up of on the run.

He was so thankful halfway around the park when they were forced to stop.

Yes, forced.

Not because of him, no no, he was a little winded sure, a little sore, but he could have kept going.

Some kids birthday party had spotted Captain America and they were suddenly surrounded by little people begging for pictures and autographs.

Clint and Sam had sat on a bench near Steve when they realised they may be here a while! People just kept joining the crowd and there seemed to be no end!

So his feet and lungs were thankful for the rest. More thankful for the water bottle Sam held out to him.

The guy wasn't even breathing hard. This was probably nothing to the two soldiers. They were probably hoping for a proper run, and Clint couldn't help but feel bad for ruining that.

"You two forget.." Cap started after a comment from Sam about Steve falling into celebrity role too easily had Clint laughing. "I had stage shows each night and movies every week back in my day. This is just as natural as combat to me."

"Oh don't remind me.." Clint groaned, his head falling into his hands. "Coulson would make me watch those horrible things whenever he was in sick bay and I had to monitor him.."

A pen hitting his head made him look up and smirk at Steve, the all powerful Captain America pouting like a child at the comment.

"Come on Clint, be nice." Sam laughed, looking to the archer then. "I'm sure there's some things you're not proud of in the past! Bet being in the circus wasn't the most glamorous!"

He knew Wilson was just joking around, but he still gave a shy smile and looked to the ground. Well, that was a whole different thing entirely!

"Sam." Cap's stern warning voice was on, and though he couldn't see him, Clint would bet anything on the fact Steve was sending the guy beside him such a glare.

"Why's it such a touchy subject?" Sam asked, his tone surprised more than anything.

"Wilson. Drop it." Oh, Captain voice definitely was on!

Steve was seriously protective of Clint. Like seriously. He and Natasha were the only ones of the group who knew everything about his past, Pepper knowing little bits and pieces from their late night chats. His SHIELD file only held the basics, nothing in depth or personal, and that's the way Fury always promised to keep it.

So, he understood why the others always got a bit annoyed about him being so secretive. But really, what's there to know? They know he was in a circus, that's enough in his view.

He only needed those really close to him to know everything else. About his father, about the children homes, about that horribleness the system brought to him and his brother. They didn't need to know that even the circus was torture, learning the craft that to this day keeps him alive and keeps the world safe was torture. That he was left for dead on more than one occasion in that horrible place before he even became a member of SHIELD.

No.

To them, he was an orphan who ran away and had a fun time learning how to shoot a bow and arrow and that's all they needed to know.

"It's fine, Cap!" Clint grinned, sitting back in the bench to see Steve better. He was giving Clint the 'You sure?' eyebrow raise and he just nodded. "Not a touchy subject Sam. Just don't like people bringing it up. I was more famous than Cap's movies after all!"

"Sure you were." Sam laughed, and Clint just shrugged as he drank from the bottle of water. Steve gave him a little smile, one he hadn't seen on the guy before.

"I'd well believe it." Rogers simply said before turning to sign some more autographs. "That's why all these people are swarming you!"

"Let me don the old costume and my legions of fans will come from nowhere!" He laughed back, settling back to relax and wait until Cap's fans are ready to give him back.

He could feel Sam's eyes on him, but he kept his gaze on the ground, his feet kicking a stone back and forth.

 _Uncomfortable.._

"Trust me enough one day, Hawk?" Were the only words Sam spoke after a while, and Clint frowned a little.

 _Not about trust.._

"Maybe." He sighed, standing as he spoke to go and continue the run himself, not wanting to sit there any longer.

They'd catch up easily enough.

But he didn't want the awkward conversation on the way back.

So, like most things, he finished the run home alone.

* * *

"He comes running out of the building with a swarm of like 50 AIM agents chasing him.. Y'know, the ones he said he could take out with three arrows?"

"Natasha!"

"Screaming at the top of his lungs.."

"Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it.."

They were all laughing already at 'I'm better than all of you blindfolded!' young agent Clint Barton stories. Natasha was trying her best not to laugh through the story but it wasn't working very well.

"'Not good, not good, mommy save me!' over and over again!"

He groaned a little at the laughs of the group around the table, letting his head fall against the table with a nice 'thud'.

The way back from the run was uneventful. Steve and Sam did catch up to him in no time, and Sam said nothing more of the matter and actually brought up baseball as a topic. Clint guessed that Steve had some words with him while catching up.

He couldn't do training after the run, and everyone understood. He took a shower, changed the bandage on his chest, and slept for about 5 hours. Until 20 minutes ago when Natasha got him up for dinner. The smirk she held told him there was no way he was going near missions yet.

He could feel her hand running through his hair, his head still on the table. She was next to him, Steve and Sam opposite, Pepper at the end of the table, and Tony still no where to be found.

He didn't ask where the guy was, the day he decided to try figure out the mind and actions of Tony Stark is the day he loses all battles!

"He did eventually take them out though." Natasha said when the laughter died down and he finally lifted his head. He nodded as he took a bit of his food, still pouting a little from the story.

"Damn right I did.."

"Just after a change of boxers." She laughed, and he sent her a glare as the table went off on one again.

"Why am I still with you!?"

She just smiled and kissed the tip of his nose, and as much as he tried he couldn't stop the little smile crossing his face.

"Not much has changed since then, huh?" Sam commented with an amused smirk, and he just shrugged.

"Little better at following orders. Fury and Stark make sure of that." He replied quietly, taking Natasha's hand and linking their fingers together when she offered.

"Any luck getting through to our brave leader, Pep?" Steve asked as soon as the words left Clint's mouth, and everyone looked to Pepper for an answer. Kind of been playing on everyone's minds today, but no one wanted to ask.

"Oh, that idiot?" She sighed, rolling her eyes as she took out her phone. That meant he was fine, so Clint was satisfied enough to go back to eating his dinner. "Said he needed to make things right. So I got a picture from him about an hour ago. The moron joined the circus!"

This made Clint choke on his food, and he had to push himself away from the table to double over and cough. He could feel eyes on him, and Natasha was gently patting his back.

 _He joined the circus!?_

 _He joined the fucking circus!?_

 _That can't be right!_

He ignored the water Natasha offered him, ignored the worried eyes that were on him, and just stood up all red faced and gasping to grab the phone from Pepper.

His blood ran cold at the image that stared back at him.

Sure, Tony was smiling. Grinning even. Looked like a lovely day, nothing horrible going on. To most people, to nearly everyone, it would look like a perfectly fine picture.

But the sign he was posing infront of had Clint running to his room to suit up without a word to any of his team members.

Above his head, the all too familiar plaque read 'CARSON CARNIVAL OF TRAVELLING WONDERS.'.

That damn place, why had he chosen there!?

Get it from his file or something!? That was the only explanation!

He threw on his SHIELD gear, grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows, and was out of the building in a blur, ignoring all questions.

 _This is bad._

 _This is so bad._

He got into his car and sped off to where he knew the Carnival was, always keeping tabs on it so he could avoid it.

 _This is so so so bad, worse than bad!_

He didn't care about anything else now.

He had a friend to save.


	3. Chapter 3

Lads, my head hurts today! Busy busy day, exam tomorrow but I'm too sick to study and it just sucks man! Not a happy camper! But; Onto the third!

Thanks again for the love folks, much appreciated! Let me know if something's wrong with it too, that always helps me out too and I ain't moany about bad reviews!

REVIEWERS!

 _AleuStark_ ; Oh you're going to love this circus, man! Great bit of fun was had there by our archer! (- Not good at sarcasm..) Glad you're enjoying it so far! :)

 _Xin0Lan_ ; You'll love some of my other stories coming up then! Clint has a pretty damn good backstory man that just has to be explored and written about and I just love it and yeah! Glad you're enjoying it :)

 _Niom Lamboise_ ; Thanks for the review man! Glad you're liking it!

 _rings of purity_ ; Glad you like it, but you have to wait to find out! I don't give spoilers, man!

Disclaimer; *Points to Chapter 2.. And Chapter 1.. And the other, what, 4 Avengers stories written!* Ok legal people? Ok. Good.

* * *

It wasn't too.. Horrible.

Like, he thought it would be alot worse!

Hear about kids running away to circuses back in the day, not so much these days, but it was always said to be some crazy mad place that no kid should ever think about running away to.

Didn't smell too bad.

Smelled better than Barton's apartment, at least.

Tony had Jarvis run as much of a background check on Clint as possible. Even though SHIELD files were leaked by Natasha all that time ago, there wasn't an awful lot on the archer. Took Tony a while to remember that he said something about Fury helping hide things from his file, like Laura and the kids.

But he read the file before, himself Steve and Thor got in a lot of trouble one day for peeking at it! So he knew the name of the circus Clint was brought up in was in there somewhere.

Sure enough, Jarvis did find it, and found out they were set up about 40 minutes away, outside of Elizabeth NJ.

Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonders.

He grinned a little at the sign high above the entrance to the field, turning with his back to it so he could take a picture.

He'd have to send it to Pepper when he got better cell reception!

He really hated how he looked in it, but oh well! He shaved off the beard, had some scruffed up jeans and a hoodie on, looked way too normal. But he didn't want anyone knowing Tony Stark was hanging around a circus! Imagine the press!

"Not opened yet." He jumped at the gruff voice coming from behind him, turning to see a pretty terrifying man. Easily six and a half foot tall, but didn't look it because he was built up too. The face looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Probably some picture he saw in Clint's file. "Come back in three hours."

"Eh, no." Tony said with a shake of his head, smiling at the man then when he got over the little bit of shock from being approached. "I was wondering if I could join!"

The guy raised an eyebrow, causing Stark to raise one back as he looked the billionaire up and down.

Geez. Didn't think it would be that bad a request!

"Sure." He shrugged after a while, offering Tony his hand to shake. "Need a new shit shoveller. Names Swordsman. My show's over in tent three every half hour. You are?"

 _Oh shit.. Name.._

"Eh.. Steve." Tony grinned, shaking the mans hand. He had some grip! Muscles weren't lying so! "Steve Potts."

"Welcome aboard, Steve." He nodded, he didn't strike Tony as much of a smiling man. He grabbed Tony's bag from his hands without even asking. "Animals are down back. Shovel should be by them. I'll put this in caravan 9. Sharing with the other two newbies."

He walked off without another word, obviously to wherever he was off to in the first place.

Tony raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked towards the back of the area. He thought 'Shit shoveller' was just a term for new guy..

Did he actually expect Tony to shovel up animal shit..?

He groaned to himself and scratched the back of his neck for a moment, making the move then to head to the back of the camp site.

He was gonna kill Barton..

* * *

Ok, if this is what the kid had to do when he first joined, then damn he deserves so many apologies..

There was no shortage of animals in this place. Usual tigers and lions, some elephants, snakes and the lot, and Tony could have sworn he saw an ostrich run past him at one point!

No shortage of animals means no shortage of animal shit..

Means there's no shortage of work Tony has to do in this area..

And man he hated it!

Two hours here and he was still shovelling into a little wheelbarrow he had to push around! Any bit of shit someone would see, he'd be ordered to clean.

The grins on their faces told him they were loving this way too much..

"What d'ya say, girl?" He sighed to a horse, patting her neck for a moment as he took a break. "Reckon I should just give up and admit the kid was right?"

The horse paid no attention, just simply chewed on a bit of hay, ignoring the billionaire completely.

"First day's always the roughest. We gotta break you noobs in." Tony jumped at the voice, it was chuckling, softly spoken. He looked from the stable he was in to the one next to it, raising an eyebrow at the person in there.

He could have laughed at the get up, but then he remembered it was the circus and this sort of stuff was to be expected! Skin tight purple sleeveless vest, purple pants, and a mask covering his head and eyes.

Honestly, looked like the mission gear Barton would use!

"See who lasts the day then figure out a place for them." He continued on, too busy brushing one of the horses to look at Tony though. "Broke one last week by making him clean the portloos. Man, he lasted maybe a half hour at most!"

"Testing loyalty." Tony nodded, understanding why this stuff was done now. If someone lasted through this, then they'd last through whatever would be thrown their way!

"Commitment." The guy corrected, turning to smile at Tony. He was well built, though that may be just because Tony could see his arms. Around the same age as that Swordsman he met earlier. They must be the owners of this place, or at least oldest residents. "Carnival always comes first. Screw loyalty, you can hate everyone here, just once you don't forget to get the money in then it's fine."

"Mhm." Tony hummed, throwing the shovel down and pulling off his gloves so he could walk around to the man's stable. "What about you so? What's your money draw?"

He eyed Tony for a moment before grinning and shrugging. "Think I could show you rather than tell you. You seem to have the build for it and I need a new pupil."

"Other one go insane?" Tony asked curiously, scared that his act was something crazy now.

The guy didn't answer him though, he just motioned for Tony to follow with an oddly hardened face. The billionaire complied, anything's better than shovelling shit for the rest of the night!

"Didn't go insane. I just haven't been able to find one nearly as good as one of my former ones." He shrugged, he had been silent for about five minutes while they made their way through the fair, trying to weave their way through the crowd that was coming in for the evening of fun. "High expectations."

Tony's eyes went a little wide when he stepped into the tent after the new comer, this was just his luck!

Inside was an archery set up. A giant tent with targets at the end of the long way. On the opposite end sat a rack filled with bows and different quivers of arrows.

If this was where Barton studied, it was way too coincidental..

"Guess you're the resident Trickshot?" Tony asked after looking around, the guy had his mask down and was weighing out some bows.

Tony knew that from when Barton did the same. When Tony was messing around with him one day in training he asked Clint to teach him to shoot. He did the exact same thing this guy was doing, picking up a number of bows and moving them different ways. When he asked Clint that day what he was doing, he just smiled and replied with finding one to fit your scrawny frame.

"That's m'name alright." The guy laughed, eyeing Tony once more before nodding and finally deciding on a bow. He grabbed a quiver of arrows and approached the billionaire. "In this circus, everyone needs a craft. The only one without an apprentice right now though is me. So, you can learn archery and be the best, or shovel horse shit until someone passes their apprentice."

"Archery it is then!" Tony laughed, slinging the quiver over his back before taking the bow in his hands. He was meant to learn from Barton that day, but just when they were about to start he was called out on a mission. They never got around to it then. Stark was always too busy, and Clint took on that Kate kid to teach then.

"Thought as much." Trickshot laughed, moving to lean against the wall, his arms folded across his chest. "Not gonna be easy."

Those last words sounded too serious, and it kind of made Tony's stomach knot a little bit. Oddly threatening tone to him now.

He took a deep breath anyway and stepped up to the mark painted onto the floor. He had watch Clint do this a million times before. If that joker could do it, how hard could it be!?

He grabbed an arrow from the quiver and ran into his first obstacle; how they hell do you hold this thing?

He heard a chuckle after a minute of trying to neck the arrow, and he looked up to see his new teacher move away from the wall and grab a bow from the rack. He took the arrow from Tony and started setting it up.

"Hook in the line. Finger either side." He explained, necking the arrow slowly to show Tony.

"Draw back, keeping the draw arm dead straight." Again, he completed the task, drawing the string of the bow back as he raised it to head height. "Fingers by the mouth, helps direct it."

Tony nodded, watching in slight awe as it was explained. He never truly understood how technical it was. Barton made it look easy, he just drew back and set it flying right on target. This was first nature to him, and it gave Tony a new found respect for the guy.

"Back muscles tighten and lock. Slow your breathing. Relax your hand.. And.." The guy was so softly spoken, Tony was in a bit of a trance while he spoke. But he looked to the dummy when the arrow was sent flying, embedding itself dead centre of the target. "Let 'em fly."

 _Ok, practice so!_

"Three chances to get it in the red or yellow zone." Trickshot said when he turned, his calm teaching voice suddenly gone.

Tony looked to the man with an eyebrow raised, wondering what happened after three chances.

He didn't think on it, he'd get it in one!

He was slow setting it up, trying his best to follow the directions to a T. And man oh man were these things difficult to draw! No wonder no one would take this thing up, needed some upper body to do this!

Clint had a dislocated shoulder.. And they pushed him to get back to training with the bow.. Man, he felt like such an ass and it was only the first day here!

He took aim, and fired, a smug smirk on his face that soon fell when the arrow went no where near that target.

"One." He heard from the side of the room, looking to see Trickshot leaning against the wall once again, his smile gone and replaced with an unimpressed frown.

Tony sighed and tried again, this time at least hitting the target. But that wasn't good enough for his mentor because a warning 'Two.' very quickly followed.

He really wanted to know what would happen after this shot.. It worried him enough to have his hands sweating, which just managed to make the whole thing more difficult!

He drew back once more and took aim, his heart sinking when the arrow just scraped the side of the dummy.

Dammit, he was probably gonna give up teaching him now and send him back to shovelling horse shit!

"Sorry man, it's difficult to le.." A scream coming from his throat cut off his words, some electric current shooting from the hand he held the bow in right through his body. He fell to his knees and found the shock had made his hand cramp around the handle, meaning there was no escape.

"Y'see, we have a special teaching method here.." Trickshot started after what was probably 30 seconds of electrocution, Tony's vision a little blurry as he watched the man approach. "Our time is valuable. So, you either learn quick, or suffer."

"Man.. No wonder he hated it here.." Tony rasped out, trying to catch his breath and calm his shaking muscles.

"Excuse me?" Trickshot asked quietly, and Tony could hear the confusion in his voice. He looked up to the man and gave a lopsided smile.

"The one you trained before.. Your high expectation.." Tony started, and his vision was coming back clear enough to see the shock on the archers face. "No wonder he hated it here.."

"What do you know?" The man spat, standing then to move away.

"I know Clint has nightmares about this place.." He said calmly, Trickshot freezing in his retreat to his spot at the wall. "I know it's taboo to bring this place up when we talk with him.. I know he hates you guys more than anything.. I know that Hawkeye is a better man than any of us and if this is what he was put through when he was just a kid then man I'm buying him a drink later.."

"Clint Barton, you say.." The guy said quietly, turning to face Tony with a pretty damn terrifying smirk. "Oh, he was put through a lot worse than this, let me assure you.."

Tony raised an eyebrow and was about to ask how that was possible, but another, stronger jolt of electricity surged through his body. This one was too strong to even warrant a scream, it paralysed him completely, having him flat on his back and fighting off unconsciousness in seconds.

His eyes barely open, he could just make out the figure of Trickshot above him, his voice clear as day as consciousness slipped him.

"And, trust me.. He'll be put through it all again in no time.."

* * *

He jolted awake, hoping to god all of that was just a horrible dream.

But, when had he ever been so lucky?

He was in a different space, the last thing he remembered was being on his back in the archery room, Thor only knows how many volts of electricity racing through his body.

This was different though. This was a large space with seats all around, the main ring he guessed. He was sitting in the middle, arms tied behind his back and legs tied to the chair he was sitting on.

The place was dark, bar some spare lights around the roof giving the slightest of illumination.

Tony wasn't used to this sort of thing, not used to being tied up. Well, being tied to bed is a little different, but that's a story for another day!

But he wasn't a spy. Sure, Clint and Natasha probably found this second nature. Cap maybe aswell, he was taken a few times.

But this had Stark panicking a little. Being confined was not a good thing! Too many memories of being cooped up in a cave came with being confined against his will! He pulled at his bindings but they were solid, no give to them even a little bit.

He could hear his phone go off in his pocket, and he guessed it was Pepper. She'd be the only one looking right now, especially since the last message from him was just that picture of him at the entrance.

"Took us a while to figure you out." He heard being shouted, though the echo in the room made it come from all directions so he couldn't pin point where the person was. A look around had him spotting two figures in the seats. "But man, the great Tony Stark in my circus?"

Damn.. He thought he was being smart with his cover!

"Honour, really." Another voice said, and he'd know that as Trickshot. He doubted he'd ever forget that voice now! "And to say he was my student!"

"Bring great crowds to us." The other voice boomed, both jumping down from their position to approach.

The unknown one turned out to be the first face Tony saw here. Swordsman, sword on full show on his hip now!

"Sorry fellas." Tony started, his throat a little too dry for his liking. "My company doesn't handle ransoms. They'd much rather me gone, if I'm honest."

"Good thing we're not after money then, huh?" Trickshot grinned, kneeling down in front of the billionaire. "Looking for something much sweeter."

"Babes? Sorry, can't do that either. I'm a happily taken man and have no ties with oth-"

A punch to the jaw shut him up, his head snapping painfully to the side at the force of Trickshot's blow.

 _Damn, how did Natasha and Clint do this day in and day out!?_

He was learning to respect those two an awful lot more today!

"Revenge, Stark." Swordsman said from behind the billionaire, and it put him off a little not being able to see someone with a giant weapon at his disposal.

"I don't think I fucked your circus up that bad.."

"Not on you." Trickshot sighed, patting Stark's cheek gently like he was kid.

"Who th..." He cut himself off this time, because he knew full well who.

The only one who would come looking for him.

The only one Stark knew had dealings with these two in the past.

He looked down when his phone sounded again, and his eyes went wide as he finally realised who's ringtone it was.

 _Dammit Clint.._

Trickshot reached into Stark's pocket and pulled the phone out, grinning at the name on the screen before patting Tony's cheek again.

"Seriously love you, Tony! We'll buy you a drink after all of this is done!"

A bag was placed over his head and something struck the back of it before he could reply.

The world went black as he slipped away once more, and for once, he didn't care about himself.

He only cared about his team mate, the trouble his actions had gotten the kid into.

He feared what horrible things those minds were thinking of doing to him.


	4. Chapter 4

4!

Exam went shit! Want to cry!

REVIEWERS! DOWN THE END THIS TIME CAUSE..

Well..

Went a little overboard with replies. I'M SORRY! I JUST LOVE YOU ALL AND HAVE TO RESPOND!

Oh, and, hello massive influx of favourites and follows.. Nice to see you o.o

Disclaimer; Don't own anything to do with Marvel. Just shh. Stop hurting me.

* * *

The drive seemed agonisingly slow.

Like seriously, why was traffic always bad when he needed to be somewhere!?

He sighed roughly and grabbed the emergency cherry light from his glove box, sticking it on the top of his roof so the cars would get the fuck out of his way.

So, he shouldn't technically have it anymore. SHIELD was no more, so he technically doesn't have the right to use it.

But this was more of an emergency than most things it was used for in the past!

Though that time he was craving a hot dog and wanted to get there before Natasha noticed he was gone was an emergency alright..

Clint needed to get to that circus as quick as possible.

Because, man if they found out Tony knew him?

There'd be so much trouble for the billionaire if that happened. And Clint wouldn't be able to live with himself it that happened.

Isn't Tony's fault things with the circus ended horribly..

* * *

"Trust me, kid. Be in and out before you know it."

Clint nodded as he followed behind his mentor, jumping from roof to roof like he had trained to in the past for his show.

He hadn't a clue where they were going, or what they were taking. All he knew was that Trickshot said he needed backup and Hawkeye was the only one who could do it.

So, he donned his purple outfit along with his mentor, grabbed his bow and arrows, and was now jumping across roof's at midnight in one of the nicer areas of California. He didn't know the name of the street, or area, just that these mansions were MASSIVE!

And, from the looks of things, they were heading towards one of the larger ones on the street.

"Hold here for a sec, Hawk." Trickshot said with an arm held out to stop the archer, taking a knee by the edge of the roof to survey below.

Clint raised an eyebrow and went to kneel next to his mentor, looking below to see what he was planning.

Across the way was a mansion like Clint had never seen! Seriously, it was stuff an orphan could only dream of ever seeing!

Up a long garden way sat the three story building, spotless clean white as far as he could see in the low light. He was in awe of the place, but he drew his attention away when Trickshot drew back an arrow.

"We have to take out those three guards by the door simultaneously." He whispered, Clint took that as a queue to draw back two arrows.

His mentor was good, one of the best, never missed. But he couldn't shoot more than one arrow. His little drinking habit made his hands a little too shaky for it. Clint was up to managing to shoot two at the same time, even being able to have them go different directions, though only slightly. He'll take the two guards closest to eachother.

"Can I ask why?" Barton whispered back as he took aim, wanting to know why he was hurting people before actually doing it.

"This guy stole something of mine." Trickshot replied, giving the nod to let the arrows fly. So he did, sending the two arrows into the chests of the two guys. Wouldn't kill them, but it'd hurt like a bitch. "Need it back."

"So, he's a thief?" Clint asked with an eyebrow raised, standing to follow Trickshot once again, scaling down the building in a matter of seconds.

"Pretty much!" He called behind his shoulder, running across the road and up the garden. Bold tactic, just barging right in. But Clint guessed there wouldn't be much more guards inside. "You're on scope. Take out anyone that comes our way, got it?"

"Yes sir." Clint replied with a nod, drawing an arrow from his quiver to be ready for an attack.

He followed Trickshot in and they ran through the halls, the guy seemed to know where he was going. He trusted him, and if he was beating his way through thieves, that meant he was finally being a hero! And that's all he ever really wanted!

"Watch it!" He heard being yelled, before an arm was pushing him through a doorway and a dagger was flying by him. "Eyes open, Hawkeye!"

"Sorry.." He stammered out, straightening himself up and stepping from the safety of the room to peek around the doorway.

Two guards, coming his way, he easily sent two arrows into their chests before turning and nodding to Trickshot. "All clear."

"Should've brought you along to the others Barton!" Trickshot laughed, patting his shoulder as he passed the kid. "You make things go so easy!"

Clint smiled a little shyly and nodded, not used to taking compliments. He pulled at his mask as he followed his mentor, the thing was starting to itch. He never had it on this long, only usually for the twenty minutes his show lasted.

He looked down with a frown when one of the guards grasped his ankle, drawing another arrow to stab into the arm.

He froze though, halfway through the stabbing action, when he saw the face of the man.

"Barney.." He said a little breathlessly, his older brother lying in pain on the ground and looking up at him with the most pathetic eyes he's ever seen on him.

Clint wondered if those were the eyes he'd give his older brother when they were kids in the home..

He pulled his mask off and dropped his bow, letting his brother know it was him and not someone else.

He kneeled down next to him and went to pull the arrow from his chest, frantic now.

"Trick! Call for help, we gotta help him!" Clint pretty much yelled, Trickshot near the end of the current hallway.

"Are you mad, kid!?" He yelled back, but Clint didn't look at him. He was too busy watching his brother's face, nearly in tears as he tried stop the bleeding his arrow caused. "We're nearly clear!"

"For fucks sake man, I can't leave him like this!" He screamed, looking up to the archer at the end of the hall with a scowl. "Get help!"

He looked to the roof when an alarm went off, and he could hear a curse coming from Trickshot's mouth.

"Y'know what, kid? That'll cost you!" He growled, and Clint looked back to him just in time to see an arrow aimed at him. He couldn't move, couldn't take the pressure off his brothers chest or else he'd bleed out. "I should've let Swordsman kill you that time!"

The arrow was let loose and Clint managed to turn enough for it to just embed in his shoulder, still hurt though, still drew a scream from the archer and nearly sent him flying to the ground.

Trickshot would have aimed another, but the sound of feet approaching was getting louder and he had to make a decision to either kill Clint or save himself.

"Next time I see you, Barton.. Next time, you're a dead man!" He yelled before putting his bow on his back and running down the hall.

Clint ignored the pain and looked to his brother, his vision blurry though, from pain or tears he couldn't tell.

"It's ok, Barn.." He whispered, Barney's eyes shut though. He was slipping away from Clint. He couldn't be the one who killed his brother, not after all they've been through, not like this. He looked up to see guards with guns trained on him, and he wondered if this would be the end for him.

They'd look after Barney, they were already tending to the other man Clint shot an arrow through and were trying to see if Clint was a danger or if he could be left applying pressure to Barney.

"Just you and me, right..? We'll be ok.."

* * *

By the time he got close to the circus, night had fallen.

And that suited him perfectly!

He knew what he was getting himself into. Last time he saw Swordsman, he was beating the ever loving hell out of him for trying to tattle on his money laundering. Last time he saw Trickshot, the guy was trying to send an arrow through his skull for getting him caught, all because he wanted to save his brother.

Both were still here. He knew that. Himself and Fury have been tracking them for years, making sure they never had a chance to get near him or Barney.

 _Barney.. Man it's been a while.._

He shook his head of that thought, that was for another day entirely!

He parked the car on some road about a ten minute walk from the site. He could see the light beacons from here, the ones that stretch up into the sky and sway back and forth. It was almost like some weird homing signal for him, though it just managed to knot up his stomach.

He was going back to this hell..

Willingly..

Man, he was going to KILL Stark!

He sighed and grabbed his bow and quiver, getting out of the car then and breaking into a sprint to get to the camp as fast as possible. It was dark out here, not much illumination since it was the back arse of no-where.

Unless they drastically changed their opening hours since he's been here, the place would have been closed a little over two hours now, so he'd be fine moving around.

Going through the front gate would be way too obvious, and there was always someone on guard there. So, instead, he went around back and climbed the fence, finding some cover behind an overturned crate to get his bearings. First and foremost, he took out his phone to give the billionaire what would probably be the billionth call that night.

Still no answer.

 _Dammit.._

He poked his head up over the crate before swiftly crouching back down. A quick look was all he needed.

He may be a little rusty, been out of the game a little longer than expected.

But he was Clint fricking Barton! He was Hawkeye! Some skills just never leave!

From a glance over the crate he could spot three teams of two guards. They all seemed to have a territory, and past experience let him know that there were a number of blind spots he could use.

So, he waited for the chance, when all teams backs were to him, and ran in the most covered and shaded area he could find.

Caravan nine. That's where they keep the newbies. If Tony really did join the place, that's where he'll be right now.

Ducking and diving, he managed to make the short trip to the housing area in no time. He snuck up to the trailer in question and peeked in the window.

He frowned though.

The lights were on, and two people he didn't recognise were sitting at the little table playing cards. But there was no Tony to be seen.

Maybe he got fed up and left. Maybe he was just ignoring the phone because he didn't want to talk to Clint.

He sighed roughly and fell into a crouched position once again, by the side of the caravan. If that idiot left without letting anyone know, he was definitely gonna send an arrow through his skull..

He took his phone out once again and hit redial, holding the receiver to his ear as he waited. He wasn't expecting an answer, so he scanned the ground to figure out his next move.

 _Get to that clearing before team number two turns around.. Then hop the fence and regroup at the.._

His thoughts were cut short when the phone actually picked up, though his moment of relief was soon gone when an all too familiar voice came over the other end.

"Clinton! So good to hear from you!"

"Trickshot.." He whispered in disbelief, looking around frantically to see if he was spotted by them. He couldn't see anyone looking at him, and no one coming his way.

"Wow, the great Hawkeye actually remembers me." The laughed reply came, and it took everything Clint had to not tell the guy to go fuck himself. "Honoured!"

"What have you done with him?" Clint growled, his free hand reaching back to grab his bow from it's resting position. He wouldn't be answering the phone if Stark wasn't in trouble, wouldn't have sounded so unsurprised to hear Clint on the other end of the line if Tony wasn't compromised.

"Nothing, my dear student!" His tones actually sounded hurt, but Clint knew the guy better than that.

"Chisholm." He growled, a warning tone on now. He was in no mood for this shit! "Answers!"

"Don't get all commanding with me, kid!" Trickshot yelled from the other end, still as easily worked up as ever! "You want your friend? Come get him. Centre tent. You can take his place and he can go home!"

Clint didn't reply, he just ended the call and stood up, running from his position towards the centre tent.

He didn't even hesitate. Didn't think about what he was about to do.

Someone needed his help.

His team mate, his friend, needed saving from his past. And he wasn't about to let the chance to get him out of here slip though his fingers.

When he pushed through the opening of the tent, he could see they were expecting him. Trickshot was on one side of Stark, arrow drawn and pointed at Clint straight away.

Swordsman, the old bastard, was on the other side, hand on the hilt of his sword still resting on his hip.

He knew he was outmatched.

Any other day, he'd fight off two guys easily. He'd have them dead on the floor before they could even get a word from their mouth.

But this was different. Not only were these two his former mentors, the guys who taught him everything, but Swordsman also had a small knife held to Tony's throat, the billionaire had a sack covering his face right now so Barton had no clue if he was conscious or not.

"Good to see you, Barton!" Swordsman grinned, and Clint just stared him out of it.

"Duquesne." Barton replied quietly, the friendliest greeting he could give the man right now. Chisholm moved his arrow in a downwards motion, and Clint followed what he meant and carefully placed his bow and quiver on the ground.

Buck Chisholm, while having his issues in the past, was one of the most terrifying people Clint ever knew. He could kill a man with an arrow thirty different ways and make it so none of them could be traced to him. It's why SHIELD haven't been able to take him in and keep him. No evidence left to tie him to any of the murders Clint just knew he committed.

The other man, Jacques Duquesne, was just as terrifying. Worked as the Swordsman for years in the circus here, until the day Clint caught him paying off some bad debts with the circuses money. After nearing killing Barton, missing stabbing his heart by millimeters thanks to Trickshot and Barney taking the guy out, he left and wasn't seen again. Until he was picked up by police once for robbery. He served some years in jail, but was out in no time and instantly tracked down Trickshot to set this whole 'business' up again.

"I don't think he's happy to see us, Trick.." Swordsman frowned, and Clint could honestly believe he was sad.

"Overjoyed. Can't you tell?" Clint said quietly, still glaring at the men as he made his way towards the chain hanging from the rafters of the ceiling. He knew what was coming, and if it set Tony free, then it was fine with him. The second Tony got back to the others, got his armour on, then Clint would be saved in no time.

Trickshot placed his bow and arrow on his back and approached Clint, Baton's hands in the air to show he wouldn't attack the guy even though he seriously wanted to.

Clint kept his gaze on the floor as the familiar chains were secured around his wrists, triple secured more than likely since he had a tendency of escaping them. When he'd get punished, they'd tie him up to a chair like Stark was right now. But he'd always escape, so they found this way, the one way Clint couldn't get out of because once his arm strength was compromised with the stretching, then that was his best asset gone.

Times have changed though.. He just needed a plan, and a chance, and he'd be out in no time.

"One more thing, Clint.." Jacques started, and the grin on his face made Clint's stomach drop.

He winced a little as the chain was roughly pulled, his feet leaving the ground was he was suspended from the ceiling by his arms. Not good for a healing shoulder..

"I think Tony here would want to stay and watch things." Swordsman finished with a smirk, lifting the bag from Tony's head before moving to leave with Trickshot.

Clint struggled a little, anger rising in his body.

"We had a deal" He yelled, not being able to see them though since they were by the door. He was facing a just about conscious Tony Stark, and he'd be left like this. "You said you'd let him go, you asshole!"

"I did." He heard the reply from behind him, and there was a laughing tone to his voice. "Never said when or in what state though!"

The clanking sound let him know the metal shutter above the entrance was pulled closed and locked.

"Fuck! Fuck shit assholes fucking hell how the fuck!" He yelled quickly, pulling at the chain to try rip it from the ceiling. He only succeeded in cutting his wrists a little though.

How the hell did he let himself get tricked so easily!?

 _Thinking of the past is clouding your mind too much, Barton.. If that was ANYONE else you wouldn't have done that! If that was some random mark, you and Stark would be out of here and fuck shit dammit what the fuck!?_

"Well.." He heard Tony chuckle, and he looked to the billionaire with a curious frown. "This is awkward.. Heh, Hawkward more like it!"

 _Damn.._

He was stuck in his worst nightmare..

With Tony Stark..

This was going to be hell..

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REVIEWERS!

 _rings of purity;_ Yeah, don't get used to fast updating :P It's pretty much down to me needing to get this story out of my head so I can sleep at night and procrastination :P Stories during the summer will update a fair bit slower! But, I'm glad you're enjoying it! :)

 _ELLOSHAZZY;_ Never apologise for a ramble my friend! I love them sure! You're spot on with your message, you really are, it's always how I've seen Tony, always how I've written him. He always looks out for others but tries hide it in whatever way possible. Like now; he's trying to help out Clint but hiding it behind some silly 'You wouldn't last a week!' bet so no one really knows he cares. Sometimes, I don't even think he realises what he does. Shovelling some animal droppings just came to me, I realised he probably never had to be at the bottom so why not put him there!? And don't worry about Clint! He's a tough little archer! But yeah, I'm going off point! Thank you for the review and I'm glad you're enjoying it!

 _Niom Lamboise;_ Don't take it to heart, I call everyone 'man' regardless of gender! One of the little habits I picked up from writing, unfortunately. As well as some weird Jeremy Renner twang to my accent from his voice constantly being where Hawkeye's should be in my fics! Ireland isn't the best place to have such habits, but I digress! :P Glad you're enjoying it! :) It was bound to happen eventually, him learning humility! Just took a bit of a kidnapping to make it happen!

 _AleuStark;_ Awh man, look at you making me grin! Thank you for finding my sarcasm amusing, if you knew me in real life you'd know just how much I suck at it! Gotta feel bad for Tony alright, like I said above, he tries his best to make things right and things just always mess it up for him! But relax your mind, not too much hurt ahead! My little Clint is still recovering so I wouldn't be that mean! Unless my next exam goes bad.. Then things tend to get mean in my fics. I'm rambling, but man never shut up! Just ramble in the comments cause it's how I interact with you all and wanna hear all your ideas! So glad you're enjoying it :)

Hope you enjoyed! :)


	5. Chapter 5

Love ya folks, I really do! :D Onto the next before Mechanics in the morning!

Reviewers!

Niom Lamboise; Shhhhhh.. We don't know that for sure! I don't think there's any apology planned for a while actually.. I dunno man! Glad you're enjoying it! :)

m klindt; Hello there! Glad you're enjoying it! My pleasure to comply with that request!

AleuStark; I was literally just about to post this chapter then you reviewed and I couldn't just not reply to you! Technically yes, they know where they are, they know they're at the circus. Weather or not they find out where the circus is easily will be decided by how mean I feel tomorrow! :P Just.. I'll make sure lots of comfort. Or I'm scared you'll hurt me now o.o Glad you're enjoying it my dear! :)

Disclaimer! Y'know what, not writing it anymore! Just look at the other chapters you meanies!

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Silence filled the space for the longest time. The only break to it being the odd rattle of chains that the archer was currently attached to.

Clint, though, was silent and still. Tony was beginning to wonder if he had blacked out from pain or annoyance or something. Because one minute he was screaming the place down, calling the two circus acts every name under the sun while pulling and yanking at the chains attached to his wrists. Tony could do nothing but stare, never seeing the guy so worked up before. It stopped all too suddenly though, Barton's head fell a little towards his chest and his eyes closed. If he blacked out though, it would be gradual, right? Wouldn't just lose energy all together?

Only way to end this thought process, this near half hour of silence, was to ask.

"Robin Hood, you with me?" He called to the archer, voice just above normal level to try get through to him incase he was unconscious.

"Just let me think." Clint snapped back through a growl, Tony's eyebrow arching in curiosity.

Sure, the guy had a right to be annoyed. Tony just couldn't tell right now if he was annoyed at the circus acts for trapping them here, or at Tony for starting this whole thing. Snapping at eachother wouldn't help things though, so for once, Tony decided to take the high road and ignored the anger in him.

Nothing would help them, really. Unless Cap somehow managed to realise they were in trouble, got the location of this place, and burst in to save them in the next few minutes. Unless something like that were to happen, they were stuck, they were trapped, and there's no point trying to think any different.

Guess spies minds don't think like that though.

Now that Tony was really looking at Clint, not like the past while where he was trying to avoid the archers face, he noticed that Barton's head would peek up the slightest and look around every now and again. He'd mumble something under his breath, shake his head, then go back to staring at a spot on the ground for a while more.

This happened a few times, and each time Tony really wanted to ask what was going on, but didn't want to break his concentration again. Whatever was going on in that spy mind anyway, it would probably be better and less confusing to him if he never found out!

"If I had Jarvis.." Tony started, a plan in his mind. He was cut off though, Clint sending a death glare his way.

"But you don't." He growled out, shocking Tony a little bit. He didn't know if he liked this kind of Clint or not!

"I know.. Just spit-balling some.." He started quietly. He felt like such a scolded child right now, and it was the first time (of what would in the future be many) that Tony saw Clint's dad eyes. It was freaky!

"Just don't, ok? This isn't a situation you can just throw money at and it'll all go away! You don't have a suit, you're tied to a chair, you have no training in this subject and honestly look like you're about to pass out! So, just let me work this out before they get back and st-.." Clint sighed, his head falling again as if he had given up. "Just shut up and let me think.."

To say he was a little gob-smacked at the outburst would be an understatement! Sure, everything Clint said was true, but still! Tony didn't have a suit, and they wouldn't take money from him. He did have combat training, but what use was that if he was tied to a chair? He didn't know how to escape, never learned how to undo knots while your hands are tied in them. So, he stayed quiet, let the Hawk work through whatever was going on in his mind.

Tony didn't know how many ideas Clint went through in his head over the next few hours, he had been counting but he figured he had a bit of a concussion because his attention quickly wavered and he could feel himself slipping every now and again.

One of the times he slipped, he definitely saw that mission Barton was someone he liked. He was definitely someone Tony could put all his trust in.

This one simple encounter told him that;

"Hey! Stark, look at me." Clint's voice was stern, and it was only when the voice hit his ears that Tony realised his head was dropping and he couldn't hold it up much at all. Whatever they hit him with before Clint came did some real damage.

He complied anyway, looking up to the archer. It was weird, he was tied to a roof, facing the nightmare he probably spent the better part of his life trying to avoid, and yet he was sending Tony worried eyes.

"Five, nine, three, seven, one." He listed off calmly, slowly, and Tony furrowed his brow in thought. "Repeat it for me. Five, nine, three, seven, one."

 _Ah.. testing.._

"Five, nine.." That's all he could remember, and the two Avengers frowned a little at the result.

"I'll get you out and get some ice on wherever they hit." Clint said softly, shooting Tony a smile before going back into his little trance. He never told the guy they hit his head, yet he knew what to check for? Now that was skill, something only years of training, or injuries, could do to a person.

It was moments like that, little things like worrying about the other person instead of himself, trying to make sure they're calm even if he's freaking out. It was those little things that definitely made Clint the best Avenger.

The next time there was another sound, bar Clint's odd curse, was around dawn. The only reason Tony knew that was because the next sound was the shutter being lifted on the tent, and the little bit of light streaming in told him around what time it was.

He looked from the flap to Clint when he heard a whimper, shocked by the sound. Sure enough, Clint was rigid as anything, his eyes kind of wide and body tense. He must know what's coming..

"Hey.." Tony whispered harshly, trying to break through to the kid since he looked like he was about to have a panic attack! "It's alright, Clint. Look at me, it's fine! It'll be fine!"

He didn't look at him, didn't even acknowledge the billionaires words. He just stayed still, his fists going white from being gripped so hard. Tony sent a glare to the men coming into the tent. What the hell had they done to get the normally calm and composed archer to react in such a way!?

"Can't let you go until we're done, Stark." Trickshot said with a grin, twirling an arrow around in his hand as he approached behind Barton. Swordsman was beside him, a sack in his hands. Tony guessed he was about to be blinded again. "Can't have you getting the others and ruining things. But we will let you go eventually, don't worry!"

"What about Clint?" Tony spat out at the men, looking to Swordsman as he approached with the sack.

The rattling of chains made him look back to Clint though, and his heart sank a little. The poor guy was shaking now, his jaw locked painfully tight. He'd usually have a snappy smart-arse comment like 'Love me now, Stark?' or 'Please, I'll be carrying your ass from here!', just something. But there was nothing. Just pure fear.

"You'll see." Swordsman laughed quietly as he placed the sack over Tony's head, and the billionaire couldn't do anything to stop it. He was completely and totally useless sitting here and that pissed him off so much more than the actual situation they were in!

He couldn't hear much for a while, some slight intakes of breaths, the odd mutterings from the pair holding them captive, some laughs every now and again. Something whizzed past his ear and he couldn't tell if it was something being aimed at him or not.

Though he soon realised that nothing would happen to him.

Their target was Clint and Clint alone.

Tony's heart stopped when, probably twenty minutes in, the first scream ripped through Clint's throat and filled the room.

Never had he heard such an agonising sound. It was just after another whizzing sound passed his ear, and he figured it out. They were using the kid as a target. Shooting him with arrows.

He wanted to comfort the guy, because once that first scream left his body, they just kept coming. The sack prevented Tony from seeing anything that was going on but screams, whimpers, pleas, they were all being thrown out.

Barton soon begging 'Just finish it.' nearly had Tony screaming the place down himself.

Clint never gave up before, and he was in some pretty horrible situations! But this had him begging for it to be finished! Tony had to stay quiet though, because if he uttered a word or showed these guys that they were getting to him aswell, who knows how worse they'd punish the archer.

An hour. He counted an hour in his head before the screams finally died down, before the room fell conpletely silent bar some heavy breathing and occasional grunt.

The bag was lifted from Tony's head a short time after, and his eyes struggled to adjust to the light.

"There you are, Stark!" Trickshot cheered, Tony's vision a little blurry though as the man kneeled infront of him. "That's what he used to get for punishment! Bet you're glad you just got a shock, huh?"

The man patted Tony's cheek and stood to leave, his pal no where to be seen though, he didn't know when the swordsman left.

He looked to Clint and nearly got sick at the sight, his body screaming for him to get up and go over to the archer.

He was just dangling from the ceiling, not moving even a little. The only way he knew the kid was still alive was from the pretty damn unsteady rise and fall of his chest. But that really wasn't what Stark was focused on.

His vest had been ripped off of him, a target painted onto his chest, one of the ones Tony was shooting at yesterday. There were a number of arrows around him, they must have been pulled out of him because there were holes bleeding all around his chest and stomach. There were three left in, Tony realised they were the three that would cause most pain; one in the shin, one in the chest, and the last in his left shoulder.

Tony growled to himself and pulled at the bindings, a new found anger rising in his chest.

How the hell could they do such a thing!? They just used a human body as a target, for shits and giggles!

Something worse hits him though. And it was definitely something that had him sick to the stomach, more so than the shot up body of his friend dangling there.

 _'That's what he used to get for punishment!'_

 _Used to get.._

Those evil bastards used to do this to a kid!? Barton was barely out of his teenage years, probably only 18 or 19, when he left the circus. He learned years before that, so if he got punished for not shooting properly, it was when he was still a young teen.

"Barton!" Tony shouted, trying to get any kind of response from the archer. His stillness was seriously scaring Tony, and the bleeding just wasn't stopping. They must have hit somewhere major to cause that much! "Come on man, you gotta get us out of here, remember!?"

"Come on, Romeo.." Tony said softly, losing all fight now as the siuation dawned on him. He tried shimmy the cahir a little to get over to the kid, wasn't working too well though! "Natasha will kill you if you don't wake up.. And she'll kill me then for not waking you!"

Nothing. This was getting annoying!

"I'll buy you pizza for a year!" Tony said a little louder, hoping that would be enough! "After I get you out of here, after we get out. After I get you back to the tower in a nice bed, get you patched up, get you beside Widow.. After I blow this place sky high for what it put you through, I'll buy you all the pizza and coffee you want!"

He wasn't used to this. It was getting to him, making him panic. There was his friend, hanging from the ceiling, probably on deaths door, and he could do absolutely nothing to stop it. This was his worst fear coming alive, it really was, and it was happening at a damn circus of all places!

"Don't think uncle Tony will ever be bringing the kids to a circus now.." He said quietly, watching the ground infront of him since he just couldn't stomach looking at Clint anymore. "Not that I'm allowed alone with them anyway! Laura ever forgive me for sending Coop home limping?"

Nothing. Again. Even talking about his kids won't wake him!

"We'll get out.." He whipspered after a good ten minutes, not knowing if it was calm himself or try get to Barton. He just didn't know what else to say. "And when we do, I'll order you the biggest pizza there is.. And twelve cheeseburgers.."

 _Wait.._

 _Orders.._

 _Natasha always gets him awake, gets him to do his physio or go for walks by ordering him to._

He looked up to Clint with a slight frown, maybe it was just Natasha that it worked with..

"Clint Barton! Wake up! We have to get out of here, that's an order!" He yelled in the most commanding voice he could muster, though it was shaky at best!

He grinned a little when he heard a splutter, dammit sometimes a bad past made for a great present! It was all Barton's order following that made this possible, made him so pre-conditioned that any authoritative voice seemed to work!

"S-sorry sir.." It was weak, but it was there. The archer found his voice again and it was like music to Tony's ears.

Next sound, not as much.

A horrible wet sounding cough escaped the archers lips, blood pooling at the side of his mouth from whatever internal damage was done. Tony's heart sank once more as Barton gave a pathetic whimper.

"Don't be sorry." Tony said sternly, watching with worried eyes as Clint tried open his own. "Just look at me. Francis, look at me."

Middle name. He only let Natasha use that. Anyone else would get a punch in the face for using it. He needed the guy to fire up a little though, needed to make sure he was alright, or as alright as he could be at least.

Tony gave a slight smile when grey eyes met his. They were dull, struggling to stay open, but they were there and that's all that matters.

"You're going to be ok. I'm going to get you out." Tony said as softly as he possibly could, and he could see some panic cross the archers features. He must have finally realised what was going on. "Hey! Relax! It's fine, you're fine."

Those arrows were giving him alot of pain. Tony could tell by the way the kids eyes kept darting to the one in his chest and back to Tony. Was he afraid to leave Stark's gaze..?

 _Well, yeah, you basically ordered him to look at you, idiot._

 _Arrows.. They were sharp._

Testing the bindings behind his back once more, he did notice that his hands could open a fair bit. And that arrow in Clint's shin looked at the perfect height..

Tony grinned a little and tried scooting his chair once again. He was going to help, he was going to get them out, if it was the last thing he did!

"Don't worry Robin Hood." He smirked, slowly making his way towards the archer. "I got a plan."

Clint's quiet chuckle was possibly the best thing Tony's heard in a while, and it brought a smile to the billionaires face.

"T-that always makes.. me worry.." He spluttered out, his head finally dropping as energy left him. Still awake though, cause he was still chuckling to himself.

Tony laughed a little himself. They shouldn't be, this was no where near a laughing matter, this was as serious a thing he had ever been caught up in.

But, as he made his way towards Clint inch by inch, he realised he didn't know if this was even in the archers top ten of horrible things that happened to him.

Maybe this was a laughing matter for the archer, because lets face it, maybe he's survived worse.

Tony was going to have to investigate that!

For now, though, he just made sure the kid stayed awake.

"Just trust me.. And stay awake!" Tony said quietly, sternly though, soon noticing Clint's eyes just peeking out at him. "I'll get you out of here, Hawk."

He owed him at least that much.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry folks! Was meant to have this up on Friday but I was kinda taken into hospital with this chest infetion! I'm on bed rest for a while though, so lots of writing!

Emm.. Ok folks! Review replies down the end today cause there are a few of you and I don't want to waste your time up here!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer; *Walks away* Nope. I'm fucking done.

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"This Kate kid.."

"Mhm.."

"Too young for you."

"Oh shut it, Stark.." He chuckled, quietly, weakly, because if he gave his usual laugh it would hurt him way too much.

He hadn't a clue what Tony's plan was anymore. All he knew was that he was in a world of pain, was finding it difficult to stay awake, but Stark was trying anything and everything to keep him awake.

When Tony finally got the chair over to him, a searing pain ran through his shin, and just as a scream escaped his lips he looked down to see Tony ripping the arrow from his leg. He gave the archer such a pathetic smile, and that's the only way he knew how bad shape he was actually in, because Tony wouldn't give THAT kind of smile unless he wasn't only on deaths door, but he had a foot in the threshold too.

That was a half hour ago, and Tony had shuffled back to his spot so he wouldn't raise suspicions. All Clint knew was the billionaires hands were moving behind his back with the arrow. If he had to guess, and it was difficult to with his mind so foggy, he'd say he was using the sharp edge of the arrow to try cut through the ropes.

"You still with me?" Stark had asked that question so many times, and Clint realised it was only asked when he wouldn't talk for a few. The guy really was worried about him dying here..

"Mhm.." He hummed, his eyes closed though and his head a little bowed. It was difficult to be, but he was still with him. He had lost way too much blood, and it didn't look like it was going to stop.

"She's good to have in the field with you out, I must admit." Tony said a little loudly, but Clint really didn't bother open his eyes. Stark was trying to get him to, but he just wanted to sleep.

"Kate?" He asked quietly, humouring the billionaire now.

"Yeah. You trained her well." A smile spread across Clint's lips. Wasn't often he heard a compliment from Tony Stark.

"She's a smart girl.. Good to have someone play Hawkeye while I relax.." He was slurring his words now, he could hear it, and he could also hear whatever Tony was doing suddenly stop. He'd bet anything that he was watching the archer closely. "She's the most gifted bowman I've ever seen.."

"Coming from the world renowned marksman, I don't think there's any higher compliment."

"Yeah, well, she's like nine years old and spoiled rotten.." He chuckled, a little embarrassed by Tony's comment. Stark gave a little laugh of his own and Clint tried his best to give a little shrug. "She's pretty great.."

"Just once you didn't use these sort of training techniques with her.." This got his attentions, made him look to Tony with a frown. "Seriously Clint, if this is what they did, no wonder you hated it. Should have told us so I wouldn't have done something this stupid."

Clint sighed and shook his head, and he noticed the eyebrow of Tony raise a little in question. "Told enough people."

"Like who?" Tony asked in slight shock, and Clint tried not laugh at it. The guy actually seemed offended!

"Nat, Steve, Pepper.." He started, though they were the main three. He didn't mention Coulson or Fury or the shrink he was ordered to talk to about four years after he joined SHIELD and nearly blew a mission because he saw the circus and panicked.

"Pep knew!?" Now he really looked hurt, Clint guessed it was because not only did the archer not say anything, but Pepper didn't either.

"Sometimes she can't sleep. I can never sleep." He simply replied, if his hands weren't held above his head right now he'd shrug. Instead, he simply let his eyes close again and dropped his head to a more comfortable position. "We meet up on our wanders some nights. And we talk. She's always interested in the story of orphan Clint."

"Well, neither of us can sleep now." Tony said causally, and Clint raised an eyebrow at it. He guessed Tony noticed, so he went on with his thought. "So, talk."

"Nice try." Clint chuckled, not liking the taste of blood he got after the action. So, no making Barton laugh!

"I mean it." Tony replied, Clint liked to call it his 'I'm being serious for once so just roll with it!' voice. Usually heard it on missions, when Steve would scold him for a crazy plan. "What do they know that I don't?"

"Everything." Barton whispered his reply, eyes opening a little to look at the ground. A nice puddle of blood was forming, but he was actually feeling a little better. Adrenaline, he realised. Even thinking of the past had a nice dose running through his veins.

"Then tell me everything."

Clint sighed and shook his head, pulling the chains a little bit to try ease some pressure on his arms. This was worse torture than the whole being shot with arrows thing! But, he figured there was no getting out of things when Tony Stark wanted answers.

"Where to start..?" Clint asked quietly, resigned to the fact there was no getting out of telling the billionaire his story.

"Why the circus?" Clint had to smile at Stark's question. That was something he had asked himself so many times!

"After my parents died, Barn and I were sent to the homes.." He started after a minute or two of thinking. Stark had called his name during his thoughts and Clint realised the guy thought he passed out again. "Dad was bad. Really bad. He'd drink all day every day, except Sunday cause church was on.. He wasn't gentle with us. Was no surprise when we heard he killed himself and mam in a car crash.."

"How young?" Stark asked softly, letting Clint get lost in his thoughts for a few minutes. It really wasn't a nice time to remember.

"Young enough.." Clint sighed, wishing he could rub the back of his neck right now. It was a nervous habit he had. When something made him uncomfortable he'd rub the back of his neck, release some tension that the situation would manage to bring there. "But old enough to know what had happened, if that's what you mean.."

"How long in the homes?"

"About three years.." He was finding his voice a little easier, it didn't hurt to talk any more. And he finally raised his head to look at Stark as he spoke. Tony was just watching Clint, and he found it odd to have Iron Man's complete and undivided attention. Usually it would take forever to get any kind of attention from the guy. "We lasted, we stuck it out. We did our chores, we took our punishments when they weren't done correctly. Just one day I was locked in a closet and refused dinner for speaking back to guy who was watching us. So, Barney attacked him. He was about forty though, so it didn't do much. Just enough to grab me and set us off running from the house."

"To here?" Stark asked with an eyebrow raised, and Clint nodded. The laugh from Stark was a sad one, one that made Clint laugh a little too.

"Yeah, I know. I didn't think it would be a bad trade until I started getting the attention of our loving captors." Barton said once he got his little laughs under control. "They were nice for a while. When the guy came looking for us, tried grab us and force us out. Swordsman stepped in and protected us, took us into the circus. They fed us, gave us a place to stay. We worked in earnest, cause man, come on! The circus, what kid wouldn't love to work there!?"

"I don't think I ever wanted to." Stark replied with a shrug. Clint couldn't help but scoff. Wrong thing to do. Tony was just trying to lighten things, but it came out wrong to Clint.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to either if I had everything I could ever want.."

Silence followed, and Clint looked down to the ground with awkwardness right after he said the comment.

It was wrong to snap at the guy. Tony was just trying to figure him out, figure out how to get through this situation. He was keeping Clint awake, hell keeping him alive more than likely. He had no right to snap at the guy.

Luckily for Clint's conscience, Stark had thicker skin than his armour. So the comment just bounced right off and he sounded find after a few minutes of silence.

"So, what changed?"

"I fucked up." Clint sighed, closing his eyes as the memories of all those years ago came back to him. "I agreed to Swordsman's tutoring. Sword and daggers were easy to learn. Not much to mess up there, so that wasn't where I'd be punished. I mastered it in no time, beat the guy in so many spars that I think he was actually getting fed up with how good I was. So, he went to Trickshot and told him to teach me. Initially, Chisholm refused so much. He was a heavy drinker, he was making the place so much money that he thought he was above it all, so there was no way in hell he'd take on some snot nose kid just because he mastered something already.."

This time, he actually did think he passed out. Because when he opened his eyes again things were a little blurry, and he could hear a little panic in Tony's voice.

"Hawk? Back with me?" Tony asked softly, and Clint raised his head to look at the guy. The chair was a little closer, Stark probably trued scoot closer when he lost the archer.

"Sorry.." Barton whispered, his head dropping again.

"Just don't let it happen again or I will be forced to ground you." It worked. It always worked. Tony's stupid jokes always managed to make Clint laugh. "So what made him take you on then?"

It took Barton a moment to realise what Stark was talking about, and he frowned a little. He kind of hoped he'd have dropped the subject!

"I was persistent." He said after a moment of thinking, never fully understanding the reason Chisholm took him on out of no where. But it was true. "I always asked, always wanted to better myself. Trickshot was the star attraction, the man that could never miss. And I wanted to be like that. So I begged and pleaded, I proved my worth, I kept at it. One day I snuck into the range and just started messing around with a bow. He caught me, and I was terrified I fucked up my chances, but , instead, he helped me that day and trained me ever since.."

"And when you'd mess up.." Tony started quietly, he sounded almost afraid of what the end of that sentence would be.

Clint just smiled a little sadly and closed his eyes again.

 _When I'd mess up.._

"It would be alot worse than this.. Trust me.." He whispered, and left the comment hanging in the air for a moment before going on. "Y'learn not to miss.. It's why I don't miss now, not by mistake anyway.. I guess it's kind of a good thing all this happened."

This was hell, sure. But back in the day if he'd mess up, he'd be left like this for easily three days. That's how he was doing fine now, how he was still conscious. To Clint, this was nothing but the start of things.

"You got out though." Stark simply replied, and it was probably the first time Clint had seen the guy lost for words.

"Eventually." He sighed, nodding his head as best he could. He was fading again. "After a botched mission, after Trickshot tried send an arrow through my skull. I never looked back. Kept track of them alright, but I went on with my life. Got caught up in some bad stuff, helped Widow steal from your company actually.."

"Tried to." Tony corrected, and he could hear the smirk in his voice. "I checked that report a few weeks after it happened. Never knew it was you of course, not until you mentioned it a while back, but from what my guards said, the archer carried the assassin out in a pool of blood after they hurt her."

"Yeah, for a first mission together, it sucked." Barton laughed, wincing a little then at the pain that ripped through his chest.

"SHIELD sanctioned?" Tony sounded shocked, and so he should. If it was SHIELD sanctioned, then Fury would have alot of explaining to do.

But it wasn't, it was Russian sanctioned as far as he knew. He never actually asked Romanoff.

"Lord no.." Clint shook his head, it really wasn't anything close to it! "Long before either of us joined. I was just roaming one day and ran into her."

"And you just agreed to help her rob from me?"

Clint smirked at that.

 _When the Black Widow wants something, she gets it.._

"I fell for her tricks." Clint replied through a chuckle, that's the best way he could describe it! "Difficult to say no to her when she pulls out all the stops.."

"Awh, little Clinton thought he stood a chance." Tony laughed, and it was true! He had fallen in love with her back then, pure and simple. And his young mind had this romanticised idea that they'd be together after he helped her.

"She didn't remember me though. Which sucked!" He smiled, these were actually kind of alright memories. "When I was sent to kill her, she didn't have a clue who I was. Didn't know until I told her a while ago."

"You never did tell us about that." Barton raised an eyebrow, not knowing what Tony meant. So he elaborated. "About you being sent to kill her. About what happened that day."

"That's for another day's talk." Clint smiled, fighting away the blackness. He was enjoying this conversation now. He wanted to continue it. "We have two different views on it. She'll kill me if she's not here to defend herself."

"Loved her for that long, huh?"

"Kinda.." Barton said softly, smiling shyly at the question.

"Even when with Laura?"

"Line, Tony." Clint growled, looking up to see Tony with an innocent smile on his face.

"Just asking! Did she know?"

Clint sighed and nodded, letting his eyes drop to the floor again.

 _Even when with Laura._

He loved Laura, he really did. Wouldn't have asked her to marry him if he didn't sure! But Nat always had a pretty big place in his heart, and that could just never change.

"Not in the beginning, I don't think.." He whispered, now hating the conversation again! How could things change so easily!? "Near the end, after the Ultron attack, she put two and two together.. She knew we were best friends, had a bond that only people who went through what we went through would have. She accepted that and accepted Natasha as family. But the nights I didn't wake up screaming Pietro's name, it would be Nat's. I'd call her each night to make sure she was ok, and each morning as soon as I woke up to be extra sure. I'd visit her weekly, I'd do research for her, or go on missions at a drop of a hat when she asked. After I missed Nate's birthday because Nat asked me to go on a mission with Steve, she kind of lost it and told me that she wanted a divorce.. I didn't realise I loved Nat at that point, she had that thing with Bruce like.. But, I guess, Laura knew.."

"Never told us that.." Tony said quietly, Clint wondered if he was feeling bad for the comments now. Not likely.

"Nat would never forgive herself if I did." He simply replied, his voice flat. He was dead a little inside at the topic, it was still a touchy subject.

"Hey.." There was a softness to Tony's voice now, and was it just Clint or did he sound closer..? "You can't help these things, Clint."

"I could have," He sighed, shaking his head. He was getting too upset now. "I could've left you guys, could've stayed with my family. I could've had a normal life and.."

He had to stop, his eyes wide when he felt a hand on his cheek. Tony would have told him if they came back in, would've warned him.

He looked up and nearly cried at the sight, Tony was standing infront of him with a soft smile on his face, the son of a gun actually did it!

"We'd all be dead then, Clint." He said softly, in Tony's world that was a pretty huge compliment and Clint knew that! "It all worked out. You didn't lose your family. Because we're all right here for you."

 _Family.. Tony considers us family..?_

Before Clint could form words to reply, Tony shocked him once again when he reached up and took his aids from his ears.

New panic spread through his chest, his only way of hearing was gone and in this sort of situation all senses were needed to keep yourself sane.

The billionaire then reached up to the archers wrist and took the control watch for the aids off of it.

 _What the hell is he doing!?_

He was about to ask, but Tony must have seen the panic on his face and signed two simple words that actually managed to calm Clint entirely. 'Trust me.'

He let out a shuddery breath as he watched Tony walk back to his seat. He had no idea what the guy was up to, but he was a genius, so he knew he had a plan.

 _Trust me._

After the past while of talking, after how much Tony had tried keep him awake, alive, sane in this hell hole, he found that he now had complete and total trust in Stark.

He could see Tony start to tinker with the aids, but consciousness was escaping him.

His head fell to his chest and he let his eyes close, because the fight was over for him right now.

He'd just have to trust Tony, he'd have to believe that Iron Man would manage to save them.

He had to believe in his family.

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 **REVIEWERS;**

Niom Lamboise; That was the idea alright! The only other people he could think about right at that moment, beside Clint who was hurt infront of him, were the people he'd have to tell this to. So, Nat, Laura and the kids were the only other ones in his mind because, come on, he was gonna hurt them too! Glad you enjoyed it :)

amy. d. fuller. 9; Hello there! Thank you for the review, appreciate it! Just, no comment from me on JARVIS just yet! Shh! Not sure where I mentioned an accent, in my little comment reply I guess, but I do know Iowa and places around there generally don't have accents (strong ones anyway, American's to me always have some kind of accent like us Irish would have some kind of accent to you!), but good lord Jeremy Renner has a cute little one and that just sticks for me as the voice as Hawkeye :P As for the man v dude, I'd be more inclined to write dude alright, I say it way too may times throughout the day! But, I dunno, I just see him more as Fractions Hawkeye recently and he complains with 'man' a fair bit, and the cartoon too, so that kind of stuck in my head :P Glad you're enjoying it though! Sorry for having you hooked!

ELOSHAZZY; I'm sorry! D: I never like making people cry! ...Ok, secretly, yeah, maybe I do.. But shh, we won't talk about that! I will make sure, just for you, that he's bought at least three coffee shops by the billionaire! I don't think I'd trust the guy with a pizza shop so I can't give him one! Glad you're enjoying it! :)

Snow Brightness; Well, I might have over exaggerated the whole punishment thing :P But everything else, yes, completely true! His circus days SUCKED! I love Hawkeye a little too much, man.. Like seriously.. I mean, I know I kill him a little each time in my fics, but that's just cause I love writing about it! But if you sat me in a room, with one meal a day, and a glass of water, but with an endless supply of Hawkeye comics, man I'd be the happiest person on earth! I'm glad you're enjoying it! :)


	7. Chapter 7

HI!

REVIEWERS!

Niom Lamboise; Don't jump the gun :P You guys seem determined to do that with this story :P All will be shown in this chapter! :) Glad you're enjoying it! :)

Guest; WHY YOU HAVE NO NAME, GUEST!? I WANNA ASSUME ALEUSTARK BUT I DON'T KNOW IF IT IS YOU OR NOT!  
Ok, enough caps :P If I guessed wrong, I'm sorry guest! Everything's always alright! Unless something major happens and I'm in a bad mood and decide to kill them all off, things usually have hapy endings :P I'm glad you liked it! :) And thank you for your concern! I'm home and all now thankfully! Had a nice holiday in Tallaght Hospital :P Now I know why I always have Clint wanting to escape them in my stories!

Xin0Lan; Thank you for your review! I'm glad you're enjoying it :) Clint is definitely my favourite aswell, though the mean-ness I show him in my stories may not sound like it! I just love writing him and people seem to love seeing him hurt! :P Stark is a favourite of mine to write too, now not really this nice touchy feeling Stark, this is really odd for him, but I like writing billionaire obnoxious ass Stark! But, thank you for the compliment :)

Enjoy! :)

Disclaimer! *Walks away* Nope.

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"So it'll be able to shock them enough, is what I'm saying."

He knew Clint couldn't hear him. But there was usually some loud rock music playing while he worked, or he'd be talking with Jarvis, so it just made sense for Tony to talk to Barton.

He hadn't looked back at the guy. He had no idea what kind of time window he was working with here, so he stayed by his chair and tried his best to turn the three little gadgets into some kind of weapon to help them out. If he could build the first Iron Man suit with nothing but scraps in a cave, he could do anything with the latest tech that was held in these devices. He just needed to distribute whatever amount of current he could muster from the little batteries inside them, that way he could shock to the guys long enough to get out and get help.

'Should work.' He signed behind him quickly, but frowned when he got no reply. Clint never really signed back, only with Natasha because she was just as fluent in ASL as he was. He always tried talk back, slurred as it always was, incase he uses some signs that are too advanced for the basics that the group learned for him.

That made Tony turn to look at the archer, and his eyes went wide at what greeted him. Clint was unconscious. He failed at keeping him awake, probably at keeping him alive!

"No no no Robin Hood.." He whispered quickly, dropping his work to rush over to Clint. He was so pale, and barely moving. Tony couldn't even notice a rise and fall of his chest, which just brought on more panic.

Carefully, slowly, almost like if Clint was touched he'd just fall apart; Tony held his fingers to his neck to feel for a pulse. A sigh of relief soon left the billionaires lips. Weak, but there. It was there, Barton was still there.

"Come on, man. Wakey wakey." Tony said calmly, though he then realised that Clint couldn't hear a thing.

 _Dammit, he just HAD to be deaf! Couldn't have been blind instead, no!?_

So, he slapped his face gently. Then a little harder. He pulled his hair a bit, pinched his wrist, anything to try get a reaction .

But there was nothing.

And Tony was starting to fear the worst.

He had to get them out, like now. He had to get him some help.

His head snapped to the tent entrance when he heard the shutter being lifted, and he had to rush back to his seat so he wouldn't get caught out of place.

He grabbed the little devices he left on the chair and sat back down, his hands going behind his back like they had been previously. He could finish the little weapons off behind his back, he's done some stranger things in his time!

He waited, and watched, as their two captors strolled into the tent, a cup of coffee each in hand. Tony couldn't help but give a slight grin at the sight. That was usually how Natasha got Clint up in the morning. Let the smell of freshly made coffee woft into his room. It'd have him up in a nanosecond. Tony looked to the archer with an expectant face, almost hopeful that the same would happen now. But, sure, when did Tony ever get these things right!?

Not a movement. And he couldn't help but send a glare at the two men who were approaching.

"He still asleep?" Swordsman asked with a tut, shaking his head as if he were disappointed. He looked to Trickshot then with a pout. Tony really couldn't figure these two guys out. "Were you tough on him?"

"Not as bad as usual." Trickshot shrugged. Tony felt like lunging at him when he went and roughly pulled an arrow from Clint's chest, a fresh stream of blood following. He spun it around his hand then, probably expecting the pain to wake the archer. "When I was painting the target on him though, I did notice he had a burn on his chest. All nicely wrapped up. Think he had a fight before our fun."

Stark looked down to the ground at that, his hands still fiddling with the aids behind him. Alright, that one was on him..

"They aren't looking after him. He'd be so much safer if he had of stayed here with us!" Swordsman said, casually sipping his coffee as he eyed Clint.

A scoff escaped Tony's lips before he could stop himself, and it finally got the two men to pay attention to him rather than Barton. Well, at least he got something he wanted!

"Something wrong, Mr. Stark?" Trickshot asked, an eyebrow raised as if what his friend said was perfectly acceptable.

"You don't know a thing about him." Tony replied casually, shrugging slightly like it were obvious.

"Well, I know someone hurt him." Trickshot said with a frown, heading over towards Tony.

 _That's it, you bastard.. Just need both of you a little close.._

"Yeah, you two pricks." Tony grinned, both men actually got visibly angry at the comment. "More than you'll ever know."

"The kid needs punishments, Stark." Swordsman growled, coffee thrown on the ground so he could approach the billionaire with Trickshot. "He did wrong. He abandoned us when we needed him most. He sold us out to SHIELD. We can't let such a thing slide."

"You can. You just won't because you're cynical old men with nothing better to do with their lives other than ruin my friends one." Tony smirked, and the way they stepped closer told him he was about to get a bit of a battering.

It's fine, he needed it. He needed them _THAT_ close to him, to have their guard down, so he could stab each of them in the chest with his little home made tasers.

So he very happily took Trickshots punch to the jaw.

He even started laughing at it. "Guess Clint didn't learn fighting from you.. His blows would usually knock me out!"

"You better watch your mouth, Stark." Trickshot growled, giving him another punch across the jaw before grabbing the billionaire's collar and pulling him a little. He noticed Swordsman pull his favourite name sake weapon from it's hilt aswell. "Carry on like this and you won't be alive leaving here!"

"Threats? Really?" Stark asked with both eyebrows raised. He was answered by a sword being pressed against his throat. "You two are forgetting something.."

"Oh?" Swordsman asked with an amused grin, making the mistake of stepping even closer to the billionaire then. "And what's that?"

"He may have been and orphan, may have been with you guys for a while.. May have been your little play thing for a few years.." Tony started with a thoughtful hum, his lips set in a curious pout.

They weren't distracted, but they were close enough for his plan to work. So. he sprung into action.

As quickly as he could, he ripped his hands form behind his back and stabbed the modified hearing aids into the two men's chests, right where their hearts would be if the sick bastards actually had some.

The current that surged through them was weak, he knew that. It wouldn't kill them, wouldn't even knock them out. But, it was enough to make them spasm violently and go crumbling to the ground. He stood up and threw the aids ontop of their still convulsing bodies.

"But now? He's ours. He's an Avenger. And we don't stay down too easy."

He didn't have much time. He wished he had, if he had enough time he could break the chains confining Clint and be out with him in no time, off to safety. But they were already starting to recover, cursing under their breaths and threatening Stark some more.

He went right up to Clint first and foremost, leaning in as close as he could to the archer's ear in the hopes that the 20% hearing he had left was enough to let him hear Tony's words.

"I'll be back! I gotta get you help, but hang in there Barton! That's an order!"

Without another word, he ran. He ran from the tent as fast as he could, pushing himself through the crowd of circus goers who were no doubt having a better day than he was! He ran and ran, and ran some more. He ran out of the main entrance, off to the hill which separated the grounds and the town. It was far, by foot at least, but he had to make it to get help back to Barton.

He ran and ran and ran some more. He ignored the burning in his lungs, ignored how his head hurt from a concussion and no doubt dehydration. He ignored how his legs felt like jelly from sitting for so long. He ignored it because he needed to, he needed to get help as quickly as he could.

 _This is what Clint did.._

All those years ago, he ran and ran and ran some more. He probably ignored arrow wounds, broken bones. He ignored years of abuse, emotional and physical. He ignored everything because he needed to, he needed to get help as quickly as he could. Both of them were doing the same thing. They were running to save Clint's life.

 _Clint's life.._

 _Dammit, Clint's life.._

He just doomed Clint's life..

Those guys were more than likely regaining themselves right now. They were probably pissed off, they were getting their strength back, and the 'genius' of the Avengers had left Clint all alone with them.

 _Why the hell didn't I kill them!?_

Had he of killed them then and there while they were on the ground convulsing, then he could be freeing Clint right now and getting him the help he so desperately needs!

He stopped and turned halfway up the hill, panting heavily. He looked back over the circus with slightly wide eyes, his head slowly shaking from side to side.

 _What the hell do I do..?_

He had two options; either run back, burst in, hope they hadn't had enough time to recover, and try rescue Clint alone. His other option was to keep going, get to the town, call for help, and try rescue Clint.

Both ended in death.

Both ended in Clint's death.

There was no chance he was saving him..

He had tried so hard to escape, but he just signed Clint's death warrant instead! Again!

He left the guy there, in his worst nightmare, alone!

How the hell could he do that!?

He let out a strangled breath and fell to his knees on the grassy patch, his hands going to cover his face as he tried think out a plan.

Battle plans, he could do. Him and Steve busted out some pretty amazing one's back in the day. Give him complex equations the worlds best mathematicians struggled with and he'd have them done and dusted in no time. Leave him with instructions to design an arc reactor to power a city and he'd have it designed, built, and running within a week.

But, ask him to choose which way one of his friends, one of his family, was to die..?

This was where Tony was at a loss.

This was where the genius failed to make his brain work.

Both ended with Clint's death, and he couldn't accept that.

He froze when he heard running. Someone was approaching him, and fast. But their legs should still be jelly right now, and he had a good bit of a head start on them.. They couldn't have caught up yet.

He didn't move his hands from his face, as if hiding behind them would suddenly make him invisible.

"Hey, hey look at me!"

That wasn't the voice he was expecting at all..

He moved his hands and looked to the owner with an eyebrow raised. Sure enough, Steve was running over to his position, in full Captain America gear, shield and all on his back.

Tony just stared the captain down as he kneeled infront of him, Steve's hands going to grip the billionaires shoulders as he scanned his face for anything.

"Talk to me, Stark." Rogers commanded, but Tony was just a little too lost for words. All he could do was gape at Rogers.

 _The hell did you come from..?_

"Got Stark. Coming back to you now." Steve said to, well, himself. Tony guessed comms though, just later on when his mind was actually able to process what was going on. Steve was holding that 'This wasn't the mission at all, god damn it!' look to his face.

Steve's hands were lifting Tony up to his feet a second later, and then they were running again, to the opposite side of the hill they were on. When he got over it a little bit, one of SHIELD's jets came into view, and he looked to the Captain in shock.

"How long have you been here?" He asked quietly, he had to stay quiet because he was about to blow up at the guy if this answer was the wrong one.

Unfortunately, it was.

"Yesterday evening." Steve replied calmly, letting go of Stark, he guessed because he got over whatever shock he was in.

Tony stopped, his eyes wide as he started at the back of the Captains head. Steve had stopped to turn and look at him with an eyebrow raised.

"And you didn't think to, oh I don't know, come save our asses!?" Tony yelled, his arms being thrown in the air in exasperation.

The sound alerted the others obviously, because Natasha and Kate had come running from the jet to see what was happening.

"We couldn't rush in Tony." Steve said calmly, his hands up a little to show he wasn't a threat to the billionaire. But, right now, he was. "We needed to figure out where you two were and wait for civilians to leave.."

"What kind of fucked up plan was that!?" His voice was getting to an un-naturally high pitch right now. But if they had of rushed in when they got here instead of camping out like a bunch of tourists, then Clint wouldn't be shot up so badly right now and probably dead for all Stark knows!

"It was the proper one." Natasha said calmly, and Tony noticed an un-natural look of worry on her face. It was directed to him, not Clint. But he was entitled to have a bit of a meltdown.

"I just wanna say I wanted to rush in and kill everyone!" Kate piped up with a frown, her hand raised like she would in school to get a teachers attention. He liked this kid. Now he knew why Barton chose her!

"We told you, Kate. That would have killed them." Steve said through a sigh, pinching the top of his nose gently. Tony guessed this isn't how Rogers wanted this mission to go.

"He's already dead!" Tony yelled, his arm motioning down to the circus below the hill.

The three of them froze at those words, but Tony didn't care. They could have saved them hours ago and they didn't because it was 'Too risky'? He trusted Steve with his life most times, but sometimes his military plans sucked!

"What?" Natasha whispered in shock, being the first to recover from the outburst Tony showed.

"Did you bring my suit?" Tony said through gritted teeth, too pissed off now to explain that, alright, maybe the guy wasn't actually dead. But, in Tony's mind, he was as good as.

"Tony, what do you mean he's dead?" Steve asked sternly, stepping closer to the billionaire.

Stark was having none of it.

"Did you bring my suit?" He growled once more, squaring up to Steve a little. They had their arguments from time to time, mostly about this sort of stuff, how to lead a battle or rescue or anything really.

"Jarvis made sure we did." Kate pipped up, stepping a little closer to the two Avengers before an all out war broke out. "It's in the back of the jet."

"Thanks kid." Tony said quietly, shooting the archer a smile before patting her shoulder and running to the jet. Natasha was hot on his heels though.

"Report." She said sternly, though there was a waver in her voice. He cursed himself a little bit, realising he just said her boyfriend was dead without any further explanation or thought. If someone did that with him and Pepper, he'd be going insane right now.

So, he paused halfway through the jet, turning to give the spy a sad smile.

He did forget sometimes that she was nearly as human as Barton, just a little more evil.

"I don't know.." He whispered with a shake of his head, and the way her shoulders relaxed told him that it was enough to give her a little hope. "He was breathing when I left.. He's been shot full of arrows and is hanging seriously painfully from the ceiling of the main tent. I pissed them off, I fucked up Natasha.."

"You got out." She corrected, shaking her head a little as she checked her gun for bullets. She was no doubt about to follow him in to save her partner.

"I could have killed them.." He whispered with a frown, for the first time in a long time he actually felt himself close to tears at the thought. This was the first time he's ever had to deal with something like this, having to leave a comrade behind when he could have been saved. He didn't know how Strike Team Delta did it for so many years, with someone they love aswell. "They were down, the sword was there, but I.."

"You were too focused on getting him help." Natasha finished for him, her voice soft as she spoke. She shouldn't be the one comforting him, it should be the other way around, but he nodded in confirmation. "That's not a bad thing, Tony. That's what you should do, you should be thinking about nothing else but getting out to get your partner some help. I bet everything on the fact it's the exact same thing Clint was doing, thinking of nothing but getting you out."

His mouth fell open slightly at her words, and he was getting a little too sick of being shocked today! But, that was probably true.. Looking back on it, Clint did do alot of thinking when he was first captured, hell he got captured _TO_ save Tony. That whole time, he knew he wouldn't get out of the shackles.. But he was still thinking of an escape plan. He was thinking of a way to get Tony out and that was all.

"It's just what we do." Romanoff smiled, and it was rare she'd use that on anyone but Barton. She pressed a button above her head and he turned to see the back wall of the jet opening up to reveal his suit, and damn was it a sight for sore eyes! "Suit up. We have an idiot to save."

He grinned and nodded, his suit opening right up for him as he approached. Slipping into it made him feel a million times better, and as the familiar sensor panel lit up, he knew everything would be ok.

"Welcome back, Sir." The familiar voice of Jarvis rang through his ears, and he was never as happy to hear his AI than at that moment in time.

"Hey J. We got an Avenger to save!"

"It would be an honour to, sir."

Stark grinned at the reply and followed Natasha out of the jet. He didn't care if the others came along or not, Natasha and himself could handle this no problem.

He may not be officially a SHIELD agent, may not be anything other than a guy with a suit.

But right now, as the two of them rushed down the hill towards the circus, he felt more a part of Strike Team; Delta than anyone else.

And man, that was a pretty great team to feel a part of!


	8. Chapter 8

Ok! Gonna get this story done before finishing off requests! Have one started, have three others in the works, so hopefully I won't go too insane writing them all! :P

So, review replies are like 500 words.. One day I'm gonna have to stop replying to you guys in chapters! But today is not the day because I love doing it this way rather than messaging! So, they're down the end today!

Enjoy! :)

* * *

He couldn't move his arms..

Why couldn't he move his arms again?

There was some reason, a reason he wasn't all too happy with.

They were confined above his head, not a good position for his still healing shoulder. Maybe that's why he's not happy about it.

He's not mission ready. No one would be stupid enough to let him go out on one. So he wasn't captured, he couldn't be captured.

He couldn't hear..

Why couldn't he hear again?

There was some reason, a reason he was actually happy with.

He takes them out while asleep, he has to, because they hurt if he doesn't.

Was it a long day and he was just sore from whatever he did before bed..?

A smirk spread across his face. Bed, confined, not happy with it..? Natasha might have gotten adventurous last night..

But no. As the haze began to lift from his mind, as the world began to come back to him, he noticed alot more pain than just a little nightly romp would cause. He wasn't on a nice comfortable bed, he was hanging from somewhere. He couldn't smell Natasha's trustworthy scent of vanilla and gunpowder. He couldn't quite pin point what he could smell..

 _Sawdust..? Animal crap..?_

 _Oh no.._

He snapped his eyes open when the memories of what happened came rushing back into his mind.

Stark, he was taken. Clint was taken. They were about to fucking die and it was all because of him! Stark took his aids to do.. something..

 _Something must have worked.._

He looked around a little but couldn't see Stark anywhere. He could see Trickshot and Swordsman alright, both on one knee as they tried recover from something. Their shoulders were slightly shaking, so they were speaking angrily, but their backs were to Clint so he couldn't read their lips.

He was alot better at that than he was at sign language. So many people had so many different ways of signing something, but only one pretty consistent way of speaking it so he liked reading lips alot more!

His eyes, more importantly, caught sight of his aids. He frowned a little at the state they were in, completely ripped apart and not even looking like hearing aids anymore. There was no chance of him surviving this without being able to hear..

He could already feel it, the tug back to unconsciousness. It's a main reason why he panicked when Stark took them out in the first place. When that sense is gone, SHIELD concluded after some tests that are against so many human rights that himself and Natasha are actually forbidden from speaking of them, his pain threshold drops. All senses heighten when one is gone, after all. It helped with his already near perfect eyesight, so they were going to be happy just leaving him deaf since it helped make him an even better Hawkeye, but their ideas soon changed when they tested his sense of touch, his pain receptors more accurately. He yielded so quick, five times easier than usual, at a simple pain test, one that he'd usually shake off yet it took him a week in the infirmary to fully mentally recover from.

So, right now, he was (for lack of a better term, or a more appropriate one) completely and royally fucked in the ass.

One final thought crossed his mind, and this one made his heart drop.

Stark was actually gone.

Suppose he was happy about that, it was the mission after all, get Tony out by any means necessary. But this was different. He obviously had something that shook the guys, got them to the ground, got them out of it long enough for him to run. So why was Clint still here? Why was he still chained to this bloody roof and not trying to convince Natasha he was fine and didn't need a doctor?

Why did Tony leave him here to die?

Because that's exactly what he did. He must have known he angered the two carnies, pissed them off to new levels, and still he left Clint here to take their wrath.

 _And here I was.. Thinking we bonded.._

He thought sadly to himself, finding no anger towards the billionaire though. How could he be angry? He'd probably have done the same thing if given the chance. He'd have run, left the dead man behind. Too much weight, too much baggage, too much risk for someone who was gonna die anyway.

Clint could feel it. Too much blood was lost, his hands and feet were numb, usually meaning his body was shutting down. The blackness wouldn't leave the edge of his vision, meaning he was constantly on the verge of just leaving and never coming back.

He raised his head as much as he could and grinned a little though when the pair in the room looked to his direction.

 _Hey, just because you're on deaths door, doesn't mean you can't have a little fun before you kick it._

"Get out smarted by city folk?" Clint asked as smugly as he could, though it was more than likely slurred. Lack of energy and no hearing? Man, he'd be shocked if they understood him at all!

'...Mouth... Little shit.' He was better at lip reading alright, but Swordsman was angry, so his jaw was clenched, which means all he could make out were those three words. More than like being told to watch his mouth.

"No point." Clint shrugged, purposely, not out of habit. He had to put himself through the pain of the action to build himself up some adrenaline, otherwise this suicide mission just wouldn't work out! "I'm completely deaf here."

The raised eyebrows he received wasn't really what he was expecting to see! They almost looked concerned for him, like that fact just broke their hearts. Clint knew better though.

What shocked him even more, because as long as he knew the guy this was a skill that was well and truly hidden, was when Trickshot started signing to him.

 _When did he..?_

Something in Clint's mind made him panic, thinking they followed him enough to learn he's deaf, or got infor on it from somewhere. Because if they knew that, what else did they know? But no, the words that were signed put his mind to rest.

'You messing with us?'

Clint took a moment to lose himself in his thoughts. Just what was going on here?

These guys were ruthless killers. They tortured him all through his younger years, they conditioned him to fear everything there is about authority and made it so he couldn't even go to a fun fair without fighting back a panic attack.

Yet here they are, showing concern..?

 _Trick._

That's the word that ran through his mind.

They needed him, they needed him on their side for when SHIELD showed up, for _WHEN_ Tony brought the Avengers here. Because he will. Before or after Clint died remained to be seen.

It was just like when they needed him to take the fall for them, when their rap sheets were too long to get offered parole. They'd be overly nice to him so he'd take the fall and spend a night in prison for them. They'd act concerned when he got out, apologise over and over again, give him an actual pillow to use at night as a thanks.

They'd be the closest things to parents he could remember.

But as soon as his usefulness ran it's course, or they felt the deed he did was well and truly repaid, things would return to normal.

And this wasn't going to be any different.

Still, though, he'd humour them.

Because he needed out of these chains..

"Had some hard times with SHIELD." Clint smiled a little sadly, looking to the ground at the thought. He didn't have the safest attitude on missions, like now, which meant hell for the doctors. "Hell, just a few months ago a building nearly crushed me to death."

Wouldn't be the first time a building collapsed on him, would you believe that? Of course you would, because you know what sort of luck the great Hawkeye has! But it was definitely the closest he's ever been to death, besides today. Even the Sokovia incident wasn't this bad.

 _Nope! No thinking of that! You literally just got the kid out of your head, you idiot!_

He looked back up after a moment or two to himself, watching his former mentors. They were talking, very lowly, hunched shoulders. He couldn't read their lips properly since they were both side ways facing him. A glance was thrown his way every few words, meaning they were definitely talking about him.

Well, who else would they be talking about? Hardly discussing the lethal capabilities of the Black Widow at a time like this!

Though they really should be.. Because the second she realised they managed to hurt Clint again, she was going to pull some tricks out of her bag specially for them!

* * *

 _"You're the bow and arrow kid who helped me with Stark Industries!"_

 _Finally! She realised! It just took her forever and a day to!_

 _"And here I was thinking you forgot me.." He replied through a laugh, watching her curiously._

 _Something was flashing across her face, not too pleasant thoughts if the creases on her brow were anything to go by._

 _"Clint..You saved me twice." She said quietly, maybe it wasn't quietly though. Maybe the fever was finally getting to him that little bit more._

 _"And you never thanked me twice.. And tried kill me once." He chuckled, trying to ease her worries about the whole thing as his eyes slipped closed and sleep took him._

 _"Just wait until I see him.." She growled, teeth grinding together in anger. That was what he woke to, by his bed, and it was terrifying! "There'll be no way in hell he'll make it out alive or dead without feeling what you felt, and more."_

 _Clint would be lying if he said he never saw her like this before. He has seen this side of her before, the notorious and world wide feared Black Widow side, but rarely._

 _Those times had been on the few missions they had been on together, but it was never this close to him. It was usually through a scope as he sniped the room she brought their mark to. Not even when he was sent to kill her, when she had the gun trained on him and was about to take the shot, even then he didn't see this fire in her eyes. This was up close and personal, this scared him! And he realised, this look, this Black Widow mentality, was specially reserved for the people she hated so much that she just couldn't find any other course of action other than killing them in the most horribly painful ways imaginable._

 _Maybe it wasn't a good thing to do, let his past life slip out.. While he was asleep, she obviously had time enough to let it sink in and plot every way she was going to get revenge._

 _But he had fever brain right now! No way to stop such things coming out! Especially when he's so vulnerable and she asked about the scar in the first place!_

 _He gave a low chuckle from his position on the bed, his eyes slipping closed once more before he could feel the soothing cold cloth placed on his forehead again._

 _This was a new side of Natasha, a caring side, they hadn't been paired for too long, about eight months so far, so he didn't see much of her personally. But this was definitely a side he liked!_

 _"They're locked up somewhere, Natasha.." He whispered, her hand pausing in it's wiping though._

 _"They?" She asked sharply, and he paused to think why she was mad._

 _Oh, he only mentioned Duquesne to her.. Woops!_

 _"Well.. I mean.." He started, an embarrassed grin on his face as he looked up at her frowning face. "Swordsman attacking me was just one little thing.. Trickshot torturing me was the worst part.."_

 _Shut up Barton.._

 _Shut up.._

 _The fire in her eyes just got ten times worse, and he could just see the wheels in her mind turning._

 _Oh they were gonna pay.._

* * *

 _Why does she always come to mind before you die, Barton..?_

 _Dammit, that's what love does, apparently!_

His head was dropped to his chest, so he guessed he had passed out a bit without releasing it.

That wasn't what was standing out in his mind though.

His knees were sore.

His knees were killing him.

Weird, right? Weird that, in the long list of things that are wrong with him right now, the horribly long list of things that were about to kill him, that's what he's most interested in.

Just hold on!

Because the pain in his knees was being felt because he was, somehow, now kneeling on the ground. His arms were still above his head, but the chain was becoming more and more slack, and more and more weight was being applied to his knees.

He smirked to himself, keeping his eyes closed though and his head bent to his chest to lure his captor into a false sense of security.

He knew these guys. Sometimes he thought he knew them better than they knew themselves. He could always guess what state they'd be in three states from now, he could guess how long they'd be there, could tell which performers would be there and which wouldn't, and for what reasons aswell. He knew these guys because he knew the circus, they worked for the circus and that was it. So, he knew, they wouldn't risk SHIELD or The Avengers crawling all over it and risking business. They'd have to move the archer, they'd have to get him out of here as quickly and as discretely as they possibly could.

They were doing that now, the chain was becoming slacker and slacker until Clint could actually feel his arms beginning to lower for the first time in what felt like forever.

He could sense someone by him, he didn't care which of the pair it was, he just had to take any of them out.

He took a moment, took the time to make sure they were indeed by his side, waited until they were taking his arm to lift him to his feet.

A smirk, a crack of his neck, and Hawkeye was back in action.

He snapped his eyes open to get a view on who was by his side. Swordsman, that bastard Duquesne, that's perfect! Get the big man out first then worry about the arrows!

Adrenaline, he found, was the reason he was alive. That wonderful little thing that surges through everyone's body during important life changing times saved him more times than he could count. Today was just another one of those times.

His hands were behind his back, so that had to be resolved first and foremost. Before good ol' Swordsman had a chance to react, Barton jumped up in the air, his knees tucked to his chest so he could swipe his arms and therefore the chain out to the front.

Duquesne was shocked, but Clint just shot him a warm smile, like the one they'd give him before sending an arrow through his chest.

The second the older man reached for his sword, Clint was on him. He lunged forward, both hands gripping part of the chain so he could wrap it around Swordsman neck. Twice.

The gargling sound that came from his mouth couldn't be heard by Clint, though he was sure it was there from the foam that was coming from the corners.

The mans hands grasped helplessly at the chain constricting his wind pipe, his eyes wide and going red with lack of oxygen.

Barton didn't care.

He needed to get out.

He needed to make sure Tony go out and they didn't just kill him and dump him somewhere.

When the body in his arms went limp, he let the chain go slack, Duquesne's body quickly tumbling to the ground. He hated the guy, more than anything in the world, but he just hated killing that little bit more. Unconscious would do fine.

Once Clint untangled the chain and grabbed a breath, he glanced around for a sign of Chisholm. His attack was done in under thirty seconds, at most, so the archer couldn't have gone too far.

Clint froze when he met Chisholm's eyes. Right by them, the tip of a nocked arrow, pointing right at Barton's skull.

The opening of the tent was just behind Trickshot.. He just had to get past him, take an arrow somewhere non-lethal, and make a run for it..

 _Well, you've done more difficult escape methods, Barton.. This'll be fun.._

He didn't have to have his aids in to know what Trickshot was shouting, so Barton complied and held his hands in the air, slowly lowering himself to his knees.

Chisholm was careful around the younger archer, Clint could tell by the way he carefully tip toed over to him, arrow still aimed high, even when he hunched infront of Barton, the arrow tip was placed against his cheek in a not so friendly reminder that Trickshot now held the power to kill him with just the release of a finger.

He always had that power, really.

'We... get you help.' Only words he could read, even with Chisholm so calm and collected right now. He never was the most eloquent speaker!

"Don't bullshit." Clint said with a shake of his head, his hands had to fall to brace himself on the ground. It caused Trickshot to jump in fright and the arrow to cut a nice fresh line across his cheek. It was fine though, he couldn't fell it, adrenaline was helping with that.

'I'm not!' Those were clear, the shock on the older man's face showing them more than anything. He must have shouted, because Clint watched as the man let out a sigh and shook his head. 'May have hurt you.. Never lied.' There were words in between, but Barton got the general gist of what the man was trying to say.

It was true, but it didn't fill Clint with a great deal of admiration or thanks for that. He never lied. Neither of them ever lied. They did what Clint did on missions, what Natasha did. They bent the truth to suit their needs, and bent it again to get themselves out of situations. Just like when they said they'd let Tony go.

 _Tony.._

"Fine. Tell me and I'll play nice." Clint spat out. If he could distract the man long enough, then he could make a break for it, and go find Stark. That's priority right now. Finding Stark. Getting Stark help for that concussion. If it's left too long, he'll start to get worse headaches, and they might end up losing him for a while.

There was a stand off. A moment where both men locked eyes and neither would look away.

His time in SHIELD taught him how to read people from this. It taught him how to guess a mark's worse fears or insecurities, how to gauge how a person was feeling, what they were thinking. It turned him, most importantly, into a human lie detector.

Something flashed across the archers eyes and, just as soon as it was there, it was gone again.

 _Doubt._

He was going to try lie to Clint, but must have decided it was useless.

'You have too much information on us.' He finally said, deliberately slowly, so Clint could catch each word. 'Hydra has a wiping centre..'

"You deal with Hydra!?" Clint yelled in shock, his eyebrows hitting the roof at the comment.

Trickshot scowled at Barton and nodded, his hand tightening on the string he was still holding back.

'Easier way to deal with you though.'

Clint smirked a little, and the cocking of Chisholm's eyebrow made him realise he succeeded in confusing the older man.

But he just saw the most amazing sight in the world and couldn't help but smirk.

"There is.." Clint nodded, glancing behind Chisholm once more before back to him. "It ends with an arrow.. A gun.. A shield.. And some fancy hand shooter.."

Chisholm tensed before slowly turning around, a nice quartet of Avengers standing in the tents entrance. That was the best sight ever, that was the sight that nearly had Clint weeping. Just as slowly as he turned, the older archer stood and un-tensed his bow string, his hands going up in defeat.

Tony was there, beside Kate, so he was safe and in Iron Man gear! His hand was raised, about half a second away from shooting a hole through the archers chest. Cap was next with his shield ready to be thrown, Clint could safely say this was the first time he's seen the Captain properly pissed off! And the best sight of all was Natasha and the look that he saw all those years ago, the look of 'I'm going to do unspeakably horrible things to you in a minute!'.

All three of them would kill him though.. He needed Chisholm alive, needed SHIELD to take him and Duquesne in and keep them away. So, he looked to his little apprentice.

"Kate.." Clint said with a smirk, giving her a slight nod when she looked to him. She had an arrow of her own nocked and aimed at Chisholm's shoulder. Never a kill shot. She was just as angry as the others, he could tell that, but he taught her to avoid kill shots unless a kill order was given. "If you please."

A smirk spread across her face, but he wasn't able to catch her reply. She let the arrow fly though and it embedded itself nicely into Trickshot's shoulder.

Before the bastard even hit the ground, Clint had. He fell backwards onto his back, looking up to the ceiling as all the fight and adrenaline left his system.

They had come to save him..

He may be out of energy, definitely out of time, but as some figures of his friends started forming in his vision, he just had to laugh.

He laughed and laughed some more, not because it was funny, but because it was the complete opposite.

It wasn't funny, but he was safe. They were all worried, he could see it on their faces. Tony's mask was up, Natasha was by his side. They were frantically saying stuff to him, but he just laughed.

He was probably going to die.

He was definitely going to die.

So, he laughed. Otherwise, he'd just cry.

* * *

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REVIEWERS!

poertygril22; Well I'm super glad you like it so much! I love writing Clint, feel like I can relate to him sometimes :P Just, not the mad superhero team mates or crazy circus backstory.. But yeah, thank you for the review! :)

AleuStark; Well one of them posted at least! Dunno what's wrong if the others didn't I might have my review mods on a weird setting, I'll check that for you! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far! And you'll find out :P Cause I have two different ends to this story and dunno which one I want as the actual chapter 9 and 10 yet :P Thank you for the review and two other attempts at it! :)

Niom Lamboise; I always have this idea in my head that, sure, Stark acts like he doesn't care, but if himself and a team mate were in the position he finds Clint in now, he'd go complete and total momma-bear on the guys who hurt him! I dunno, just what I like to think when writing him :P Like, as soon as this whole ordeal is over between them, I just see him going back to his ususal, albeit less hostile, self :P Glad you're enjoying it! :)

Anon; ANON, MY DEAR OLD FRIEND, WHY YOU NO GIVE ME A NAME!? I LIKE KNOWING YOUR NAME! YOU'RE NOW CALLED ALLEN FREDRICKSON THE THIRD!  
SO!  
Allen Fredrickson the Third; Well, kind sir/madam, I'm glad you're enjoying the story! And trust me, you telling me that I do a fine job writing Clint honestly has me over joyed! I love writing him, more than any other, because himself and Steve are just the ones I can seem to relate to the most. I dunno, I just do :P They're both soldier types, I can respect that! Trying to slip comic things in.. But, honestly, not on purpose :P I love the comics so much that I sometimes actually forget things in them weren't in any of the movies and, well, they slip into stories like they were :P Glad you're enjoying it Fredrickson!

...Ok, that was a little weird of me, I'm sorry, but that's how I'll treat anons from now on! I will just be giving you a name! :D

ELOSHAZZY; Was just thinking of you the other day! ...That sounds kind of stalkerish, right? OH WELL! Touchy-feely Tony is a favourite of mine to write, I'll be honest! It's just tricky sometimes cause you get some people giving out that he's not in character or the real Tony Stark wouldn't say things like that, but in all reality, he definitely would. People forget that, yes, he's an ass. An over bearing ass who does need to be taken down a peg or two sometimes, but he's also a human. They may make a running joke in the movies about him not having a heart, but man, I dunno! I like nice Tony cause he still tries be an ass while being nice and I just like that! And wow man.. Your little synopsis there was pretty damn amazing! Didn't know it was so emotional but I'll take your word for it and I apologise if it's killing you! Not my intention! :P Thanks for the review, sorry I rambled there :P


	9. Chapter 9

Second last one, folks!

Hope you enjoy! :)

REVIEWS;

Niom Lamboise; Possibly :P Wouldn't be a Clint Whump fic without it now, would it? Just not really shown, but yeah. :P Glad you're enjoying it :)

poetrygirl22; Not greedy at all! But, second last chapter, so hope you're ok with that! I'll be honest, wasn't expecting anyone to pick up on the little concussion comment but I'm so glad you did! I thought it was just a Clint thing to do! :P Glad you're enjoying it :)

AleuStark; See, if I do post two of them, it'll just confuse me :P It's already confusing me, cause this is technically half way through my next fic if that makes sense, so adding an alternative ending will just confuse my poor mind even more! So, I'm winging it! There were only tiny differences anyway! Glad you enjoyed the last chapter, hopefully you'll like the rest! :)

AllenFredrickson; YES, YOU READ RIGHT, ALLEN-FRICKING-FREDRICKSON! My god I love you guys so much sometimes it hurts! You have just made my day, man! I'm actually crying just because of the name! Thank you for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying it, but man thank you for actually accepting and enabling my weirdness!

Every time I've logged in today to write, and looked at that comment, I let out the weirdest squeal, so; I DEDICATE THIS CHAPTER TO ALLEN FREDRICKSON!

Disclaimer; ... _Clint_ ; Eh.. She's gone. Muttered something along the lines of going to kill some people for having to write this the billionth time. So, yeah, she doesn't own us, like any of us, she may kill you if you remind her of it!

* * *

"Can we not just rush in? We know he's there."

"Cap's right this time, kid." Stark replied quietly, remaining flush against the tent wall so he wouldn't be seen. Kate was by his side, and when she signed to speak in private, he knocked their comms off. Now he knew why, she wanted to go against Steve's plan.

Can't say he blames her. If he didn't think Steve was right this time, then he'd have already blasted his way into the tent and would be bringing Clint to safety right about now. But no, they had to make sure they wouldn't make things worse.

When Tony and Natasha made their way out of the jet, Kate and Rogers had been waiting for them. Steve didn't look all too happy, and even with super serum healing there was a nice red mark on his chin. One would safely assume the hot headed Hawkeye Junior (though they're not allowed call her that to her face so shh!) gave him a nice clock against the jaw for not letting them go save her mentor. It was no surprise when Steve's plan then involved Tony with her rather than with Natasha!

They had to wait though. They had to make sure that the two men inside the tent were far enough away from Clint to not kill him at the slightest hint of a rescue mission. If that were to happen, then this whole thing would be for nothing.

He was convinced all the way down the hill that none of it mattered anyway, that Clint was already long dead and the two circus acts were long gone and halfway to Canada by now.

But Jarvis put his mind at ease with one scan of the tent, showing that Clint's vitals were struggling, but were still there.

What's more, he was talking. He couldn't hear much, Clint's voice was really low, from no energy or no aids Tony couldn't really tell right now, but the other voices were quite noticeable.

When he knew the archer was still alive, he carefully cut a hole in the tent fabric, two actually, because Kate shoved him out of the way to peek in when he cut in the first hole.

So now the two of them were watching as Tony's favourite two acts lowered Hawkeye down to his knees.

They barely left his side, barely gave the Avengers any time to get in and get their team mate out.

"I can't anymore." Kate growled, and finally Tony agreed with her! He didn't know what they were doing, but Swordsman was approaching Clint and taking his arm so he knew it couldn't be good. He noticed from the corner of his eyes that mini Hawkeye was doing exactly what he's seen Senior Hawkeye do a billion times before; she was nocking an arrow and getting ready to bolt from her position.

He smirked to himself behind his mask.

 _Looks like he passed his recklessness onto you aswell.._

He had to grab the kids arm though, not to stop her, he couldn't do that anymore, but so she could confirm what he just saw.

"Yeah.." She replied his unasked question, her voice low, and no doubt her eyes wide as she watched what was unfolding.

Clint, on death door, was holding his own.

The guy was moving so fluidly, so expertly, that with his back to them it was near impossible to tell he was even hurt.

It was like he hadn't missed a beat. So easily jumping to his feet, even off his feet, and using the chain that was confining him for so long as a weapon instead. He was choking the life out of Duquense, and Stark couldn't seem to find any sympathy for the guy.

Remembering the other two didn't have a view, positioned either side of the entrance to ambush, Stark turned his comms back on to let them know.

"Opening. One down, one distracted." He said sharply, taking Kate's arm to run around to the other side of the tent, to the opening.

"Repeat?" Rogers confused voice replied, and Stark rolled his eyes at it.

"One down. He's fighting." Kate confirmed for him, a hint of a laugh in her voice. Guess it was kind of funny! They were worried for the guy, here trying to rescue him, and it seemed Natasha was right all the way down the hill saying he never needs rescuing, he just needs distractions.

"You sound surprised." Natasha's amused voice came over the comms, just as they neared the other side of the large tent.

And, in all fairness, the pair of them were!

It was different for Natasha. She was used to this side of Barton, the Hawkeye side of Barton. The side that manages to take a hundred guys out with one arrow, the guy who can fight his way out of a compound with three injured men on his back. And, indeed, the kind that could save his own ass with arrows sticking from everywhere and probably all his blood out of his body. This wasn't Hawkeye the archer, this was Hawkeye the SHIELD agent.

Stark, and more than likely Kate, well they hadn't seen this side. While on Avengers missions, there really wasn't any need for that kind of Hawkeye. Strike Team Delta was a pair, so the situation was alot different. On Avengers missions, Hawkeye wasn't really Hawkeye. He was their sniper, their sharpshooter. He covered their asses and stayed away from the fight. Outside of that, and even in that, he was an overly cocky smart arse who takes great pride in annoying Stark and finding new ways to make the billionaire curse his name.

Who's to say which side of the archer is better?

...

 _The agent side._

 _Definitely_ _._

Stark can say that with confidence.

So many brilliant inventions and prototypes destroyed during Barton's impromptu lab visits..

"Sir, agent Barton is down again."

Sometimes, even Jarvis' polite way of phrasing things, made Tony's blood run cold.

"How bad?" He asked quickly, sliding to a stop with Kate just by Steve and Natasha.

"It seems the archer has an arrow trained on Agent Barton and has him on his knees."

 _God, thought he was dead.. Phew!_

"Got one chance, Steve." Tony said calmly, noticing that Kate and Natasha were getting their weapons ready, regardless of what order Rogers would give.

"Then let's light 'em up." Steve said with a smirk, grabbing his shield off his back and going to the entrance way, the other three on the team following suit.

He smirked behind his mask as the sight of Clint smirking at them, that son of a bitch was one cocky kid!

The four of them readied their weapons for the blow. He couldn't tell what Clint said to Trickshot, but the latter slowly turned to be met with four of the Avengers all aiming for his head.

Clint regarded them for a moment, just as Tony was about to fire away at the carnie.

"Kate.." Clint started, his voice sounding nice and strong now. Tony wondered if it was just a false energy. Of course it was, there was no way he should even be conscious right now! He gave a nod, but Tony couldn't see what he was nodding at. "If you please."

Tony looked to Kate to see a smirk spread across her face, and she tensed the bow string that little bit more. "Just remember who saved your ass, Hawkdude."

She let the arrow fly, and Tony was actually a little disappointed that it only hit Trickshots shoulder. The bastard deserved it so many other places, so many other places that would leave him in pain for years to come.

 _He doesn't deserve death._

 _He deserves worse._

None of them held their attention on him too long, because before the ass even had a chance to scream, Clint was flat out on his back.

"You two, get Chisholm. Natasha and I have Barton." Tony yelled to Kate and Steve, running over to Clint with Natasha by his side while he spoke.

 _I swear, Barton. If you die now.._

He popped up his face mask and looked to Natasha with an eyebrow raised when a sound hit his ears, and her confusion mimicked his own.

 _Is he.. Laughing..?_

Sure enough, when they slid to kneel down next to Barton, he was laughing away to himself. His eyes were glassy, glassier than before, which scared Tony. They were fixed on the roof, he was still bleeding, he looked freezing, though the way Natasha frowned when she touched his forehead told Tony he actually had a pretty bad fever.

"Stay awake for me, alright?" She said softly, her hand being placed gently on Clint's chest, right where that damn target was painted. "We got help on the way."

"We can move him." Tony said quickly, looking to Romanoff before back to Barton. He was panicking, he was self aware enough to tell that much. Things were finally calming down, adrenaline was leaving his system. He was getting tired, sore, he could feel himself slipping.

He wasn't panicking for himself though, he was panicking for Clint. Because if this is how he felt, he could only begin to imagine how bad Barton felt right about now.

"His injuries are just the wounds. Nothing broken, we can move him, we can get him out faster and to the jet before the medics get here, and.."

"Tony." He looked from Barton's face to Natasha, her voice was stern but her eyes seemed soft. How was she so calm!? "Breathe."

"We gotta get him out." He whispered frantically, suddenly feeling too trapped in his armour. He shook his head and hit the button to release the armour, the suit obediently moving away from it's owner. He fell then, so he was on his knees, a hand going to grab at his chest.

 _Dammit Tony, not the time to have a panic attack! I thought we got over this!_

"Kate! Get Stark." He heard Natasha shout, but Tony's eyes were too focused on Barton to care about anything else. Natasha was working on him, she had taken a little medical kit from the pouch on her belt and was injecting something into his neck. But he had stopped laughing, his eyes weren't opening as quickly anymore. Stark was losing him. He was losing Clint and there was nothing he could do but watch.

A pair of hands on his shoulders drew his attention away from the dying man, infront of him was the kid, his apprentice, Kate. She stared him down for a moment, slowly grounding him back to the task at hand, even without uttering a word.

 _How many times has she done this? Did Clint have panic attacks? Is that how she knows how to control them so easily? Why did he have them? Was it because of the circus or something else?_

 _Dammit, why do you know so little about the guy who's dying for you!?_

"We'll get some pizza, ok?" She said quietly, her eyes never leaving his, even when he tried look back to Clint. Especially when he tried look back to Clint. "He loves pizza. It's his favourite, besides cheese burgers."

Why was she talking about this right now? It doesn't help things! It can't help! Natasha was still working frantically, now trying to stop the bleeding coming from her partner, coming from her boyfriend.

 _Dammit, you just killed her boyfriend.. And the kids, they're coming over at the weekend and their dad won't be there.. Tony, you fucked up! You fucked up so much it's not even funny!_

"We'll patch him up." Kate said a little louder, obviously sensing the panic rise in Tony because her hands were gripping him a little firmer. "We'll patch him up, we'll get him washed up, and we'll all relax with some pizza and some stories about how much of an idiot he was on old missions."

 _That actually sounds nice.._

Whatever method this was, whatever trick they figured out in the years of dealing with panic attacks, it was working. His breathing was calming, and all that was going through his mind was what the recipe for that pizza base Pepper makes is. It was in the kitchen somewhere, in one of her little recipe boxes.

"I can make one." He whispered to her, his body feeling ten times heavier all of a sudden. "Pepper can, at least.."

"That sounds great, we'll help her while Clint relaxes on the sofa. We'll put a movie on, make a night of it." Kate said with a smile, and he nodded, letting his whole body sag into the relaxed state it wanted to be in.

"You did good, Tony." He looked to Natasha when she spoke, she was smiling, but not at him. She was too busy watching as her hands tied off a bandage around Clint. "You got us to Clint. You saved him."

 _You saved him.._

 _You actually did it, you idiot.._

He let that thought stay in his mind as darkness took him. He saved Clint.

He saved Clint. But, Clint had saved him.

 _Dammit. Clint saved you.._

 _You owe the kid more than just a pizza.._

* * *

The next time he woke, he could recognise the place without opening his eyes. There was that hum he always told Pepper he was going to fix but just never got around to it. It was just a speaker above the bed, one that allowed Jarvis speak to them. One night when he kicked a shoe off a little too enthusiastically, it hit the black disk and it's been making that noise ever since.

 _I'll fix that today.. It is pretty annoying._

 _What day is it? Might have gone a little too hard on the drink last night if that isn't even coming to mind.._

 _Oh well. Usual tasks anyway.. Breakfast with Pepper, get the board meetings out of the way, train with Cap, check in with Widow, make sure my lab hasn't been destroyed by.._

 _Barton.._

His eyes shot open at that thought, body instantly jumping out of the covers he was under. He didn't care what state he was in, sure the place has seen him in alot worse than just some boxers. His head was thumping, but right now, he just had to make sure the archer was ok. He had to go find Clint.

Last he saw, he really wasn't ok.

Last he saw, the kid was pretty much dead on that damn tent floor.

"Sir, I advise you to go back to bed. You're running a fever and-"

"J, who's here?" He quickly cut the AI off, his throat a little dry though so it came out raspy. He just ran from his room and down the hallways of the tower, knowing if people were here they'd be in the common area.

"Ms. Potts, Miss. Bishop and Captain Rogers are in the living area, sir." Jarvis replied after a pause, he was no doubt tattling on Tony to Pepper. He'd have to programme that part out of the system.. It was the same when he was sick or coming in drunk, because Pepper was the next of kin, the AI just assumed to tell her whenever he did something reckless.

When he skidded into the living area, the three around the large coffee table were already looking in his direction. Yep, Jarvis definitely told them. Pepper was on the large sofa with it's back to the doorway, so she was looking around at him with a soft smile. Cap was on the left on an armchair, and he could just see Kate peeking over the edge of the sofa arm. She was on the floor, no doubt re-stringing her bow. Clint did the same. Tony always offered him a work bench to do it, but he always sat on the floor.

"About time." Kate said with a grin, as Pepper stood to come around to him. "Clinty boy lost, like, all his blood and he still woke up a whole day before you!"

"Is he..?" He started, and the nod from Pepper as she came to his side and took his arm made muscles he didn't know were tense relax.

"He's fine." She smiled, bringing Stark over to sit on the sofa with her. Cap had left to go somewhere. He could hear running water from the other room, so he assumed Steve was getting him a drink. "Worried about you. We all were."

"Why?" He asked with an eyebrow raised, watching Pepper curiously. He was doing fine. A bit of a headache, but that's about it.

"You wouldn't wake." Kate answered from his feet, so he looked down to her. Sure enough, she was stringing a bow, but it looked like the one he designed for Barton, not for her. "Doc's all said there were no injuries, but you just wouldn't wake."

"Well, it was a long few days.." He sighed, giving Steve a nod of thanks when he was handed a glass of water.

"Long enough for a weeks sleep?" Steve asked with a teasing smile, and Tony had to shoot him a little glare.

"Oh, sorry, how rude of me! Please, tell me more, Mr. Lets crash a plane and sleep for seventy years!"

The three around him laughed, and he allowed himself smile a little and fall back against the couch cushions.

"He's ok then?" He asked softly when the laughter died down. He didn't want to appear worried, but he seriously was.

"He's doing fine. Sore, really sore, Natasha's having hell trying to keep him in bed." Pepper replied with a smile that honestly made his day so much better, her playing with his hair just added to it. "But he woke up yesterday in the infirmary downstairs. Natasha brought him to his room this morning. Can't hear a thing, which is killing him, but docs are happy, and he seems like Barton, so that's good."

"Kept escaping to see you yesterday." Steve added with a nod, grinning at the thought, Stark assumed. "Even injured as bad as he is, he has a mean left hook."

"I kept telling you not to hold him down." Kate laughed, pushing herself up onto the sofa to sit on the other side of Tony.

"Well we don't all know how to give whatever look it was you and Natasha gave him." Steve defended with a smile, holding his hands up defensively.

They kept talking about things that happened through the week, how Natasha had begged to be allowed interrogate Trickshot and Swordsman, and was granted the permission. How she said she wanted to wait for Stark and Barton to be there, just to make it that little bit sweeter for them. All the fall out, all the injuries the pair shared. He really didn't want to hear that they lost Barton for a while before the medical team got there, but he had to listen to it.

He didn't care really.

He just cared that the guy was awake, that he was fine, that he was still Barton, as scary as that sounded!

He just cared that his recklessness, his stupid stubbornness, didn't kill a team mate.

He just cared that he didn't have the blood of a friend forever on his hands.

Even though he knew he would be there for a while to come, it would at least eventually leave.

After he finished his water, he stood with a small grunt of pain. His muscles weren't happy after being unmoving for a week.

But it was fine. It was a good pain to him.

"Where're you going?" Pepper asked with a frown, her mother voice on.

He looked to her a smiled before then looking to Kate who just had an eyebrow raised in his direction.

He needed to make sure Clint knew how sorry he was for what happened.

He needed to make sure the archer didn't completely hate him.

He needed to start making up for the pain he caused Barton, both in and out of their captivity.

So, he offered Kate a hand up off the sofa, and she took it with a grin. She probably already had an idea of what he was going to do. Just like how he makes Pepper omelettes when she's mad, he had something to make incase Barton was mad.

"Won't be long. It's just.. I have a pizza to make."


	10. Chapter 10

Last chapter! Sorry for being late, I kept writing and couldn't find things to cut so I cut some things anyway and it just got too much and I went a little insane and watched too many Jeremy Renner movies then and, yeah, sorry! :P

But, like, it's not really REALLY last chapter! Cause this is Hawk-guy series 4.5-ish! Set somewhere in my Hawkguy series part 4! I dunno, it was a weird random exam mind decision to write this before I wrote 4 and, yeah!

REQUESTS NEXT!

Reviews!

Niom Lamboise; Glad you liked it! Last chapter now, so hope you enjoy it! :)

AleuStark; I know, right!? Very tempted to order pizza after that one myself! :P If they were very different, then yeah, I'd definitely post both! But I always have starts and ends in mind when starting a fic, so they're never terribly far off eachother if I have more than one! Gooooood question about Kitty Kate! Emmmmm, at the start of Young Avengers Volume 2, as far as I remember, she's 20. I'm taking this as Fraction's Kate, so I'm assuming 24/25? A fair bit younger than Clint, that's all I know! :P Glad you enjoyed it! :)

AllenFredrickson; You are very welcome my dear! Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked it :)

Disclaimer; Alright, Clint did a good job last chapter, but I'm back and it's the last chapter so. I own all of it. Everything. I own all of Marvel, all the characters, all the stories. It is my official decree that Clintasha is now movie cannon and Kate shall be in the movies and he'll be deaf and it'll be perfect. Is my sarcasm on this getting better at all? Because fuck it, I don't own any of Marvel but come one! Those three little ideas can't be THAT hard to implement!

* * *

This was getting annoying.

Seriously so.

There was a time in his life, not too long ago, where lying in bed all day would be a god send.

Maybe, when he's better, it would be the same again.

But there's a difference between having to stay in bed and wanting to stay in bed.

He glanced at the clock on the bedside cabinet and let out another sigh, using both hands to rub at his face.

4:23am and not an ounce of sleep to be found!

It had been like this for a week now for Clint. He was fine, he really was. He was a little sore, a little stiff. The holes left by the arrows were scabby and sore occasionally, but none of them warranted this long a bed confinement!

Maybe the whole dying in the middle of a circus tent did.. But come on! That was just one time! They had to stop going on about it each time he tried get out of the bed!

Mentally, he was a little fucked. No one knew that, no one but Natasha because, lets be honest, when could he ever lie to her? The nightmares were back in full force, and he even had to stop his mind from wandering during the day aswell. He kept thinking he was back in that tent, back to being tied to that ceiling. He had such horrific things done to him over the years, since he escaped the circus the first time. He was taken and beaten, he was tortured to within an inch of his life. He had burns all over his body from one method that involved lighting him on fire each night and letting him simmer until the morning. He'd be mentally beat down then built back up again. And each time, he'd take it in his stride and just walk through like nothing happened.

This was different.

This was personal.

This was a nightmare that kept him awake for years actually coming true. This was something he thought he escaped, something he swore he'd never go near again, coming back to bite him in the ass and take away any little sanity he had left.

This was his weakness. This was his downfall. This was always going to be what killed Clint Barton.

He should take some pride in the fact that it didn't kill him. He should take pride in the fact that he survived it relatively alright. Natasha told him that each day when he'd have a breakdown. She'd hold him and tell him she was proud he didn't give up to his demons so easily. When it got too bad, she'd let Sam give him a shot of something that would put him into a dreamless sleep for a while.

They had this odd schedule worked out. He never liked people waiting by his side, so no one was allowed into the room except Natasha. Though Steve still managed to sneak in every now and again, and sometimes he'd wake from a nap to see a sandwich by his bedside with a note 'Eat or your bow gets it!' written in Kate's chicken scratches ontop of it. Pepper would poke her head in every evening around 5pm to see if he wanted to come out for some dinner, but he never really had the appetite for proper food so he'd politely decline. Romanoff would stay for a little while at a time, talk to him, just normal stuff. Then around 2am each morning she'd say goodnight and leave him to rest.

He never really rested though.

The only one to respect his wishes of staying out of the room was the one person he actually really wanted to break that rule.

He hadn't seen Tony in a while. He came in with a pizza a while after he woke, the two of them made sure the other was alive and semi-ok, then they hadn't really seen each other since. It was odd.

Clint had this feeling in the pit of his stomach each day that they were hiding Tony from him or something. That Natasha told him personally not to stop by incase it set Clint back or something. Reminders tended to do that. Little subtle mentions of the place over the years would set him off. Romanoff knew this better than anyone after a mission a few years ago where he just caught a passing glimpse of a circus and had a full on panic attack. So maybe she thought that it was better for the pair if they just stayed away from eachother.

But Clint found himself in this position each night, wondering how the billionaire was actually getting on. Clint was used to this, used to the aftermath of a botched mission, used to the regret and the pain, used to the sleepless nights and nightmares. But he doubted Tony was. As far as Barton could remember, the only time Tony was taken properly was when he was held in that cave. And even then he wasn't tortured or watching a friend getting killed, he was given things to build with, noted to be well fed and watered. It was like some twisted summer camp more than anything.

He sighed roughly when he realised that there was no chance of sleep again tonight, so he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, going to his closet to grab his bow and quiver. The nights he got too bad, this is what he'd do. He's sneak out, down to the range, down to his own personal recovery room to let his mind wander and feel nothing other than the string digging into his fingers.

It was tricky though.

He's been down three or four times already and he found it difficult to find the will to shoot a single arrow. He'd nock the arrow, he'd have it lined up and ready. He'd go through his ritual, he'd be ready, then his hand would just lock. His fingers wouldn't move, they wouldn't allow him release the arrow. Because each time he tried, the dummy target at the end of the range morphed into his dangling figure, a target painted across his chest and his eyes wide with fear.

It was pathetic. And each time he felt like letting the arrow fly anyway, get rid of that mess in his mind. But he just couldn't. Fear had him too wary to let it go, and it seemed like it may be a while before that changes.

 _Tonight might be the night, Barton! Just don't think about your sorry ass and it'll be fine!_

 _Totally.._

He sighed once more and slung his bow and quiver over his back, leaving his room then to start the all too familiar walk through the tower. He liked the stairs more. He always avoided elevators as much as possible. Healthier to take the stairs and, honestly, alot less claustrophobic. For a guy who nearly died in a tiny hole surrounded by the remnants of a building, the more space the better!

 _Dammit, you're one broken son of a bitch, Barton!_

The training centre in the place was on the very bottom floor. Below all the lab spaces, below the living quarters. It was below the offices, below the underground secret lab (that Pepper is most definitely not allowed know about because it's where Stark makes all the arrows and special weapons!), even below the parking garage for Tony's favourite cars. Why, in New York city, the worst place in the world for traffic, he had so many cars was still a complete mystery to them all.

Long story short, it was one hell of a walk just to not shoot some arrows and climb all the way back up.

But it was the walk that helped aswell. Being in bed all day every day kind of got tiring, so a change of scenery, even something simple and boring like stairway after stairway was better than whatever day time tv show was on or the crystal whiteness of the roof.

DVD's helped. Even if Pepper's collection was a little off his taste, it was better than nothing!

" _I put my hands up, they're playing my song, the butterflies fly away. Nodding my head like yeah, moving my hips like yeah.~_ " He sang to himself as he skipped down the steps, the words trailing off though when he noticed some light streaming from the door jam of the lab.

That was never on. The past few night's he'd come this way that light was never on. Pepper had a ban on Tony working at night after about two months ago he was working too late and electrocuted himself from tiredness. Yes, on purpose, to stay awake!

"J, my buddy, am I allowed in?" Clint asked Jarvis, knowing using nick-names actually annoyed the AI and he wouldn't be Clint Barton without annoying everything and anything he could!

He hated these aids. They were the clunky kind he wasn't used to, the mass manufactured kind you can pick up for $80 most places. People were easy to hear, but Jarvis was such a soft spoken programme that it was near impossible for Clint to catch his words most times. And, honestly, he really missed Stark's ones! That built in MP3 would make bed rest a million times better!

The door of the place popped open anyway, so even though he didn't catch Jarvis' words, he knew he was allowed. He assumed as much anyway. This was just as much Clint's lab as it was Tony's. This was where he tested out all the crazy arrow's the billionaire built, where he tried some armour or a new weapon, because Clint was the only tower resident crazy enough to agree to be a test subject, when Thor wasn't here at least. But for that reason, he just always had clearance to the lab.

" _Got my hands up, they're playin' my song, and now I'm gonna be okay.~_ " He continued his song as he entered the lab, it was a big place, and making noise was always the way to get a feel as to where Stark was! Singing especially, because as if on que, AC/DC blasted from the far corner of the room.

"I never thought I'd actually miss your country songs." The billionaires words floated over to the archer, and he had to smirk a little.

"Well, you do sing a beautiful version of Country Roads.."

"That was one time and I thought we agreed to never bring that up!" Clint finally found the guy sitting behind a work bench, and Stark instantly pouted at him for bringing up the memory.

Clint smirked and held his hand up in defence, pulling up a stool then on the opposite side of Stark. "Alright alright, you're right."

"Always am!" Tony shrugged, looking away from Clint then and back down to whatever new little gadget he was working on.

Sometimes being as stubborn as those two were was a pretty damn good thing. Neither wanted to talk about what happened, neither wanted to be weird around eachother, so they acted like it didn't actually happen!

Not healthy, but that's fine. Right now Clint didn't need healthy. Right now, Clint needed normality. And he guessed Tony did too.

That didn't mean Barton wasn't curious. It didn't mean that he didn't want to know why the hell Stark thought a good resolution to their fight was to go join the circus. He was dying to know, but just like Natasha and Laura would have to do with him, he'd have to approach Stark in the most sneaky way possible.

If they were really alike, then just get him talking and he won't shut up.

"Can't sleep?" Clint eventually asked, three songs later and an age of awkward silence. He had no idea what Tony was working on, but he hadn't seen the guy this focused since they were trying to perfect the net arrow. Man, that was a long few days!

"Difficult." Stark sighed, dropping the little device onto the bench so he could use his hand to rub at his face. Clint frowned a little, not knowing if he meant the device was difficult or if sleeping was difficult. Probably both.

He didn't seem comfortable with the topic though, and Clint understood that. He never saw the billionaire shuffle so uncomfortably before, it was actually kind of nerve racking.

To put the guy at ease a little, Clint just reached across the bench and picked up the discarded device. He rolled it over in his hand and gave a surprised sound when he realised it was a new kind of hearing aid.

"It seems like it is." Barton hummed, and he could just feel the tension in the air lifting.

 _Don't wanna talk about the issues, that's fine by me!_

"Trying to upgrade them.." Stark said quietly, gaining Clint's attention. He watched as Tony tinkered with the other one on the desk.

"They were pretty damn sophisticated already." He laughed with a shake of his head, noticing that it got a little smile from Tony.

"Yeah, well, next time I don't want you having to rip them apart to make a taser."

If Clint's eyebrows could physically hit the roof, they would have. He eyed the device in his hand a little more carefully before dropping it in shock, realising what he meant by that comment and there was no way in hell that was happening!

"Tony, no." He said sternly, Stark meeting his gaze with an equally stern one of his own.

He can't make them into weapons. That's basically what he was doing, he was adding a weapon to the already long list of functions these little devices hold.

"Clint, what happens if next time.."

"I've done fine without them thus far." Barton cut him off with a growl, slamming his hand down to crush the aid sitting infront of him.

"For fuck sake you idiot, you have any idea how long that took me!?" Stark yelled, standing now with his hands on the table to lean closer to Clint.

Barton, never one to back down from a challenge, mimicked his behaviour.

"I am NOT walking around with weapons in my ears!"

"What if it happens again though!?" Stark countered with a frown, arms being thrown in the air in annoyance.

"Then I'll get out of it like all the other times!" Clint countered with a frown of his own, not believing he was actually having this conversation.

"You fucking died!" Stark suddenly yelled, causing Clint to completely freeze up. Tony must have realised he hit on something raw, because he suddenly sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You died on that floor, Barton. And there was nothing I could do about it. So I'm making you these, and you can either accept them or use the chunky fuckers you have on right now. But I won't be able to sleep at night unless I know I did everything in my power to keep you safe."

Clint wasn't really listening anymore. His mind was going to mental to, and it wouldn't calm down.

It was an unspoken rule not to mention death. It was just a general consencus around the tower that you can ask Clint about anything, get him to spill his soul about whatever you wanted, wife, kids, divorce, hell even the circus. But no one was to mention the dying part, becasue it still haunts him too much and always will.

And it was the one thing that always made the fight drain from the archers bones.

So, he just turned on his heels and headed for the door, not one more word uttered to Tony, not an acknowledgement of his calls or pleads for Clint to stay. He just left the lab and walked back up the un-natural amount of stairs.

Never mind the shooting range, when something got to him this bad, he needed to clear his head. He needed space, he needed away from people, needed away from Tony and his stupid asshole comments.

He needed the roof.

* * *

This was his church.

This was his church, and people may tell him off for saying it, but this was his place of worship, pure and simple.

Most people, when things got difficult in their lives, when a situation got too much to handle or they needed guidance, or even when the needed absolution from whatever sins they have on their souls, they would go to church and seek whatever deity they believe in.

Sometimes, they didn't even believe. Sometimes, they went to make themselves feel better. Some did it around Easter or Christmas, to show the world that they are devoted to their religion without pushing it or going out of their way. He was never Catholic, nor Christian. He was never Muslim or Jewish, nor was he protestant or Buddhist or anything.

He was an archer.

For an archer, this was church.

The slide as an arrow was pulled from it's quiver was grace, the creak of a bow as the right amount of force was applied to its string was gospel, the breath slowly escaping as the shot was lined up was the prayer to the higher form, and the whoosh of the arrow followed by the solid thump as it embedded itself into whatever target it was aimed at were all the hymns needed to bring peace upon his soul.

And really, there was alot of that needed in Clint Barton's soul.

Tony avoided him. Hasn't come in contact with him at all since their little blow up the other night. Maybe Clint shouldn't have gotten angry at him. The guy was obviously struggling, obviously feeling like he had to find some way to keep Clint safe, and he just exploded at him for no reason.

Kate brought a pizza and a little box containing proper, non weaponry, hearing aids into him the following evening, saying they were gifts from Tony but that Tony thought a friend would be better suited to deliver them, and that just pissed Clint off more than anything.

Clint scoffed at the memory, sending another arrow flying into the poor dummy target at the end of the range.

Friendly face. Because he so risked his life for someone he didn't think as a friend! Seriously, how stupid was Stark!

Very, Clint decided. He might have some fancy degree from some fancy college, but if he thought people got captured and tortured for someone they didn't think a close and personal friend, then he was the biggest idiot on the planet.

"Y'know.." Speak of the devil.. "I could probably put some targets in your room. Save you having to sneak out each night."

"Natasha would never agree to that, Stark. You know that." Clint sighed, maybe a little too angrily letting another arrow fly across the room.

"Hmm. Suppose." Tony hummed, Clint could see him from the corner of his eye moving across to lean against the wall. He was studying Clint, and it threw him off a little.

It was 4:12am. Something was wrong. It had been three nights since he saw the light in the lab on, so this was an off night for the billionaire, a night when he couldn't find sleep. He let the arrow he currently held go a little slack so he could take a proper look at Tony.

The guy looked alright, just leaning against the wall watching Clint with his arms folded across his chest. But Clint has seen that look in Starks eyes before. Not on him, mind you. But in the mirror after seriously bad missions.

"Still can't sleep?" He asked through a sigh, looking back down the range at the dummy as he drew the arrow back once again. Maybe he should give the guy a little slack. If Clint was struggling with it all, and this was no where near his first time being taken and tortured, then he could only imagine how Tony was handling it.

"Not really." Stark replied after a minute, Clint had three more arrows in the dummy by the time he spoke again. "Find a bit, then it leaves again."

"Regret's going to be there for a while." Barton said softly, walking the length of the range to retrieve his arrows as he continued on. He didn't care about boundaries tonight. Not after their last conversation. The air had to be cleared and things desperately needed to be said. "That's the main bitch of recovering from this sort of stuff."

"I don't think I'm there yet." Stark replied with a shrug, and Clint just smiled a little. Besides being held against their will, this was the longest the pair had spent together, not let alone talking about anything other than hearing aids or trick arrows. "Natasha gave me a run down of what to expect too. Still at the angry nightmare part."

"Yeah, that's not nice either." Clint laughed, checking his arrows to make sure they were fine to fire again.

He was finally over his stage. Last night, he just let the arrow fly, regardless of what nightmare was infront of him. Now, it was just a dummy there, no longer his own dangling and beat up body. So it was only right that he help guide Stark through this thing.

"Well, I'm here each night." Barton simply said, placing all his arrows back in the quiver slung over his shoulder before walking back to his mark. "Y'know. For those angry nightmare times. Can just sit here and watch, yell, give out, I dunno. Whatever makes you feel better."

"Might just take you up on that, Barton." Tony smirked, hitting a button on the wall that made the targets move then like it would throw Clint off.

He just smirked and let the arrow fly anyway, the tip of it finding dead centre like all the other times. He had to hold back a laugh at Stark's huffy sound. Like a target moving would make him miss!

"Dunno how you do it, Barton. I could barely pull the damn string back!" Tony pouted, causing Clint to look at him with an eyebrow raised. He never let Stark near his bows, never let anyone near them except Kate. He must have sensed Clint's confusion, because he sent the archer a smile and shrugged. "I tried learn from Trickshot.."

 _Oh god.._

 _Oh no.._

"You didn't.." Clint whispered in disbelief, his arms now slack by his side. He knew that Tony went through some shit before Barton showed up, but not that kind of shit!

"Wasn't fun.." Tony shrugged, pushing away from the wall then to try leave.

No wonder he was having nightmares.. If he missed, and Clint guessed he did if he could barely pull the string back, then the horrors that would follow are enough to crush anyone.

The only reason Clint still works away with his bow and arrow, the only reason the experience of learning didn't kill his love for archery, is because it saved his life. It gave him a second chance, it ended up giving him a life outside the confines of the circus.

But Tony? Man, he must hate it more than anything right now.

Clint couldn't have that.

He couldn't have someone hating such a great skill just because some asshole has a horrible way of teaching.

He couldn't have Stark hating archery, because if he hated archery then it would more than likely lead him to hate Clint.

And he just couldn't have a friend hating him.

"Kate tells me that I'm a horrible teacher.." Clint said quietly, looking down to the bow in his hands as he spoke. The absence of shuffling feet told him that Tony stopped walking though.

"Well she's pretty good, better than you." Tony replied after a moment, Clint looked up to see him smirking at the archer. "So, you must be doing something right."

Barton laughed a little and shrugged, doing something he hasn't done in a long time by offering Tony his bow.

He was hesitant, but this was like Thor offering up Mjolnir. It just didn't happen, it was a rarity. Even Kate had to use her own bow because Clint just never trusted anyone. So, after a moment, Tony walked forward and took the bow in his hands, then accepted the arrow Clint offered.

He was going to do this right. Tony had asked before to learn, but they were always too busy. They could never find time to get together and work through things.

Now, though, Clint would make time. He'd teach Stark whatever he wanted to learn. If it meant keeping him from going off and being captured, if it meant it would keep him safe, if it meant he'd be able to keep a friend, then he'd drop everything and make the time.

"All in the breathing.." Clint said quietly, subtly changing Stark's stance when he drew the arrow back to the proper one. He may not know alot of mechanical stuff, may not be a genius engineer, but Barton could out wit anyone in this place, and that included the great Tony Stark. "Relax, and the rest will come naturally.."

He stepped back and watched as Tony went through the routine Clint knew all too well, no doubt taught it by Trickshot.

When he let the arrow fly, and it missed the target by a mile, Clint frowned. Not because he was upset or disappointed.

But because Tony flinched. Tony Stark looked like a terrified puppy about to be punished for pissing on the floor.

And it didn't suit him at all.

Clint smiled a little when Stark looked over to him, and the billionaire looked like a weight was lifted from his shoulders. Clint would never hurt him, and the sooner he learned that, the better.

Barton simply handed him another arrow. "Keep your arm up, don't let it slack until the arrow is in the target."

He watched that night as Tony let arrow after arrow fly. The guy never gave up, never complained, and it warmed Clint's heart.

Tony was shooting away his demons, shooting away his nightmares and getting the horrible events they went through out of his mind.

Later, Clint would learn that after that little shooting session, Tony had the best night's sleep he's had in months.

They were the same, in that regard. Others would be in some therapists office, talking through the shit they went through and trying to make sense of it. Clint and Tony just spent night after night in the shooting range, sending arrows into dummy's hearts, working out kinks in their minds by having a distraction, occasionally talking things out to one another.

He found a friend he didn't think he'd find in Tony Stark. He found someone he could rely on, someone he could trust. He hasn't found that since Natasha.

They were the same in some regards, different in others.

They were Avengers, they saved the world. They grew up in completely different circumstances, but they both ended up each night in the exact same shooting range, they both ended up relying on the other to heal.

There may be differences, but none of that matters.

The past doesn't matter, it never mattered, because your past doesn't define you, your future doesn't even define you, your present does.

And it only took a kidnapping and near death experience for that to sink into his mind! It took those events for him to realised that, sure, Clinton Francis Barton had a pretty shitty past, one of the worst anyone could imagine.

But, damn, Clint Hawkeye Barton had a present he wouldn't trade for the world!


End file.
